Today’s Durham Attorney and Greensboro Attorney blog post is going to give an overview of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (the FDCPA). The FDCPA, unlike the North Carolina Debt Collection Act (though there is a North Carolina Debt Collection Agency Act that is similar to the FDCPA), does not apply to all debt collection. The first step in pursuing a claim for a violation of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is to know whether the FDCPA applies to your debt collector. There are generally 4 factors that will determine whether the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to your case. If you are dealing with debt collectors, please give an attorney a call. Oftentimes just answering a few of our questions will uncover numerous violations that can help to reduce or eliminate your debt (and sometimes provide you with compensation). Our Durham Debt Defense Attorneys and Greensboro Debt Defense Attorneys provide free phone (888-820-5885) and email (info@kregerthacker.com) consultations. Also, check out our previous blog post about prohibited acts by North Carolina debt collectors if you live in North Carolina and are dealing with an unreasonable debt collector.
First, you must be deemed a consumer under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). If the debt collector is collecting against a debtor that is not a consumer (e.g., a business, partnership, LLC, etc.), then the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not apply.
Second, the debt that you, the consumer, owe must be considered a consumer debt. To be a consumer debt it must have been incurred for household or personal use. If you incurred the debt for primarily business purposes, then your debt is not a consumer debt and the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not apply.
Third, the person collecting the debt against you must be considered a debt collector under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Debt collector basically includes anyone other than the original creditor (e.g., the person/business you initially owed money to can not be the same person/business collecting against you).
Fourth, and most obviously, the debt collector must have violated the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is where talking to a Durham debt defense attorney or Greensboro debt defense attorney typically helps. To give you an idea of what violations look/feel like, the following are somewhat common violations: (i) any lie by the debt collector (as to their identity, as to what you owe, etc.), (ii) any use of any offensive language, (iii) failing to disclose the purpose of their call (e.g., to collect a debt), (iv) calling your friends, family, neighbors, etc. when the debt collector has your phone number, (v) calling you too often (greater than 3 times per day) or at ridiculous times (very early in the morning or late at night), etc. Keep in mind that there are tons and tons of violations and the list above is just a general description of some common violations.
So, if the four factors above seem to apply to you, give one of our Durham FDCPA Attorneys or Greensboro FDCPA Attorneys a call (at 888-820-5885) for a free consultation. By contacting us, you may be able to receive $1,000 in penalties from your debt collector plus any actual damages you have suffered (e.g., emotional distress, loss of employment, etc.) plus the cost of your attorney fees.