Debt Collectors and Your Job

If you owe one or more debts and are wondering if a collection agency can call you while you’re on the job, the answer is yes. That’s the bad news. But there’s a bit of good news too. The good news is that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) provides you some protection by expressly limiting what debt collectors can and cannot say and do should they call your place of business.

According to the FDCPA, a bill collector may communicate with anyone other than you (the debtor) but only for the purpose of acquiring location information – i.e. where you live or work. When they do communicate with someone other than you, here are the particular rules they must obey.

They must identify themselves and simply state that they’re attempting to confirm or correct location information. They may not identify who they work for unless they’re specifically asked to do so. This applies to both verbal and written communication.

They may not use any language or symbol (in written communications) that indicates they’re in the debt collection business. And they may not even indicate that the communication relates to a debt collection. In short, they cannot state to a 3rd party that you (the consumer) owe any debt.

The bottom line is that debt collectors are only allowed to communicate with someone other than yourself if they’re trying to find out your address, phone number, or other means through which they can contact you.

Now, do collection agencies follow these rules to the letter? Alas, many do not. When that happens, you have some options.

File a complaint with the FTC

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is the government agency whose job it is to enforce FDCPA. You can file a consumer complaint online at their website (www.ftc.gov). An individual complaint will probably not be cause for the FTC to act, but it won’t hurt (especially if that collector has other complaints). Plus, you can also send a copy of the complaint to the collector themselves which may get their attention and let them know you’re going to defend yourself.

Send a complaint letter to your State’s Attorney General

The Attorneys General of each state are tasked with making sure their laws are obeyed and enforced. The chances are good that your state has its own collection laws that mirror in some way the laws set out in FDCPA. Do a little research and then write a letter to your Attorney General, pointing out specific abuses made to both your state law and the Federal law by the collection agency. As with the FTC, a single letter will probably not get the bureaucratic wheels moving swiftly in your favor, but it won’t hurt either and again, copying in the collection agency is a good idea.

There are other options you have such as writing the collection agency’s State Attorney General (if they’re located outside your state), or complaining to one or more debt collection professional associations. You can even hire an attorney yourself and sue the agency. In all cases though, remember that you have rights and no matter how much money you owe or how long the debt’s been outstanding, a debt collector must treat you fairly and according to the law.

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