Compliant Debt Collection

January 8th, 2009 by admin

Far too many uninformed consumers give in to the overbearing intimidation and scare tactics of unscrupulous debt collectors, a sad number which grows daily, simply out of ignorance of their rights under this important Act.The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission under its powers given by the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Consumers who believe they have a valid reason for doing so may also file a private lawsuit in a state or federal court to collect damages owed to them from debt collectors. The FDCPA is a strict liability law, which means that a consumer bringing suit against a collector does not have to prove specific damages in order to collect up to one thousand dollars in statutory damages, plus reasonable court and attorney fees if the collector is proven to have violated the FDCPA in some way. Care should be taken in the filing and pursuit of such claims, for if the consumer loses their case, or is found to have filed in bad faith, the attorney fees may be awarded to the debt collector instead.

 

Posted in Business