Provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as Represented by Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys (Part 1)
As our Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys described in the previous two posts, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is one of the most important federal statutes protecting consumers today. Prior to this enactment, Congress found abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors.
As we often see in the news, abusive debt collection practices contribute substantially to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of personal privacy. In Illinois, personal injury lawyers find existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers, and are actively promoting consistent state action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.
Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys help their clients understand these following major provisions of the Act:
- Addition of Unauthorized Amounts to the Debt
Debt collectors and collection attorneys will sometimes add amounts to the debt that are not authorized. One example is the addition of fees or service charges to dishonored checks. The addition of fees or service charges, without compliance with state law concerning notification of dishonored check and limits on the charge, is illegal. Also, the addition of collection costs and/or attorney’s fees where not provided for by the contract or law is illegal.
- Mass-Mailing of Attorney Letters
Collection letters sent on the letterhead of an attorney or over the facsimile signature of an attorney often violate the Act. The attorney must review the creditor’s file, reach a professional determination of the merits of the case, and participate in the decision to mail the collection letter. In a mass-mailing situation the attorney’s participation does not reach this level.
- Threats of Action That Cannot Be Legally Taken or Not Intended to Be Taken
Collection letters that threaten a lawsuit, wage garnishment, seizure of property, etc. often are threats of unintended action. The law provides that neither the collector nor the attorney may overstate the remedies available to the creditor. Where the amount of the debt is small or the consumer has little or no assets, the threat of a collection action is usually false. In almost all circumstances threats of arrest for nonpayment of the debt are also false.
In the next post, Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys will discuss further provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Popularity: 36% [?]