• The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lays out consumer rights when a company is collecting a debt.three credit cards image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
  
  Many people fall behind in making payments on their credit cards. When this happens, they may be contacted by a debt collector in an attempt to collect the debt. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to ensure that debts are collected fairly. This act protects consumers from harassment and threats, and protects their privacy.
  
  

Locating a Consumer

• A debt collector may speak with people other than the consumer to locate the consumer. The debt collector may not tell the third party that the consumer owes a debt or indicate through any correspondence that they are with a debt collection agency. They may not contact that person more than once unless they have a reason to believe that the third party has new or complete information about the consumer's location.
  
  

Contacting the Consumer and Validating Debt

• Debt collectors may contact the consumer by phone from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the consumer's time zone. If the consumer asks the debt collector not to contact them at work, the collector must abide by this request and only contact the consumer at home.
  
  The collectors must send the consumer written notice of the debt including the amount owed and the name of the creditor. The consumer has 30 days to dispute this debt. If the consumer files a dispute, the collector must stop contact until the credit card company verifies the debt.
  
  

Collector May Not Make False Statements

• Debt collectors may not make false statements, threaten or harass a consumer in an effort to collect a debt. For example, they may not threaten to arrest or harm the consumer, claim to be a representative of the government (unless they are), or give false information about the debts.
  
  In addition, collectors may not contact the consumer or any third-party by postcard, or deposit a post-dated check before the date agreed upon.
  
  

Collector Must Stop Communication

• Once the collector has been notified that the consumer is represented by an attorney, all further communication must be through the attorney. The collector may no longer contact the consumer or any third parties.
  
  Consumers also have the right to request that the collector stop contact by phone or to stop all contact. Once the collector receives this request in writing, they must stop communication with the consumer. The only exception is to notify the consumer of legal action such as a lawsuit.
  
  

Collector May Pursue Legal Action

• If collection efforts fail, the collector or creditor can file a lawsuit to collect the debt. If the creditor wins the suit, the courts can order that the wages of the consumer may be garnished to pay the debt. Collectors may also report the collection actions to the credit reporting agencies.