Imagine that you are in debt to the point that you are keenly aware that your creditors are calling you and mailing you. As a result, you avoid the phone when it rings and you plop your mail down on a table that conveniently stays out of your sight. For lack of a better phrase, you bury your head in the sand about your debt.
In these cases, your creditors are going to contact you in an effort to collect the money they are owed. But that doesn’t mean they are allowed to do whatever they want in order to collect. There are limitations on their means for contacting you.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) set forth a number of guidelines for how creditors can contact those who they are trying to collect from. Without getting into the specific language, the FDCPA prevents creditors from:
- Calling you at unreasonable hours either in the morning or the evening
- Contacting you after you get an attorney, or contacting you at work if you tell them not to call during your work hours
- Calling other people about your debt or making inquiries with your family
- Contacting you if you formally write them to say you don’t want to be contacted
The FDCPA is a critical rule that helps many in-debt individuals. Any violations of the FDCPA need to be taken very seriously, and you should consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney if you have questions about this topic.
Source: FindLaw, “The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” Accessed April 11, 2018