Contents
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The Federal Fair Debt Collection Act regulates the behavior of collection agencies, lawyers and others who are collecting debts from consumers.
15 U.S.C. § 1692: US Code – Section 1692: Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
This description of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act tracks the language of the U.S. Code, except that, sometimes, we use plain English and that we may refer to the “Act” (meaning Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) rather than to the “subchapter” or the “title” of the United States Code.
U.S. Code Citation
U.S. Code Section and Head
- United States Code – Section 1692
- Head of the Section: Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
Text of the Section
(a) Abusive practices There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy. (b) Inadequacy of laws Existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers. (c) Available non-abusive collection methods Means other than misrepresentation or other abusive debt collection practices are available for the effective collection of debts. (d) Interstate commerce Abusive debt collection practices are carried on to a substantial extent in interstate commerce and through means and instrumentalities of such commerce. Even where abusive debt collection practices are purely intrastate in character, they nevertheless directly affect interstate commerce. (e) Purposes It is the purpose of this subchapter to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.
Legal Materials
A copy of the Act is posted by the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm). The Act is codified at 15 U.S.C. 1692.
To find cases interpreting the act look in the U.S.C.A., the U.S.C.S. and/or the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter (Sec. 64-701 et seq.).
The Act is discussed extensively in Robert J. Hobbs’ Fair Debt Collection (National Consumer Law Center) and Margaret C. Jasper’s The Law of Debt Collection (Oceana Publications). The Act is also discussed in the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter (Sec. 64-701 et seq.).
State Law
Many states have their own fair debt collection laws. An excellent, annotated listing of the relevant state laws is published in Appendix L of Robert J. Hobbs’ Fair Debt Collection (National Consumer Law Center). A listing of the major state laws is published as Appendix 2 of Margaret C. Jasper’s The Law of Debt Collection (Oceana Publications).
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Definition
- Fdcpa in this legal Encyclopedia
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act definition in the Law Dictionary