The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted in 1977 to protect consumers from abusive, unfair, and deceptive practices by third-party debt collectors. The law details when and how a collector may contact a debtor. The government enforcer of the law has historically been the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but some regulatory duties may be shared with the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection housed within the Federal Reserve, created in 2010. The FDCPA is a strict civil liability law, which means that a consumer need not prove actual damages in order to claim statutory damages of up to $1,000 per violation plus reasonable attorney fees.

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Bill Bartmann Double-Faults on Debt Collectors

2 May 2012

SF Chronicle Runs Misinformed Opinion Blog on Debt Collectors

1 May 2012

FDCPA Lawsuits Slow Down in First Half of April

30 April 2012

Scam Collection Agency Still on Hook for $10 Million if Anyone Can Find Them

26 April 2012

Debt Collectors & Facebook: a Social Media Cautionary Tale

24 April 2012

Massachusetts First State to Require Creditors to Validate Consumer Debts

23 April 2012

FDCPA Lawsuits Gain Steam in Second Half of March

12 April 2012

FTC Halts Another Fake Debt Collector Calling from India

12 April 2012

Who Will Win Most Fraudulent State?

12 April 2012

“Emailing Consumers” Presentation at NHCA Spring Conference

12 April 2012

New Study Finds Consumers Prefer Text Messaging; FDCPA Still Doesn't

10 April 2012

CFPB Focuses on Mortgage Servicers With Proposed New Regulations

10 April 2012

NYT Attempts to Answer Why People Hate Banks

3 April 2012

FDCPA Used to Protect Collection Agencies in Oregon

2 April 2012

FDCPA Lawsuits Up in First Half of March; Pull Even Year-over-Year

30 March 2012

Student Loan Debt Collection Market Attacked by Bloomberg

26 March 2012

Shaming "Delinquent" Stamp Puts Montana County in the Dog House

26 March 2012

The End of Off-Shoring Collection Agencies?

26 March 2012

Freelance Unlicensed Debt Collector Does a Terrible Job

26 March 2012

CFPB Issues First Annual FDCPA Report to Congress

21 March 2012