Collection industry insider, Bill Bartmann, has started an electronic petition he will submit to Congress where he suggests the following amendments to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA):

We hereby petition Congress to amend the current debt-collection rules by adding the following provisions:

1. Increase the penalty for violations of debt-collection rules from the current $1,000 to $10,000 for each violation.
2. Ban all collection activities on debt that is older than the relevant statute of limitations.
3. Raise the requirements necessary to file a lawsuit on credit-card debt.
4. Require collection agencies to provide clear and understandable history of debt.
5. Require all collection agencies to be licensed.
6. Require all collectors to be licensed.
7. Require an annual compliance audit for all collection agencies.

Learn more about the petition here:  http://www.stopthesecriminals.com

The FDCPA regulates the collection of debt. It is well recognized that amendments need to be made to this consumer protection law from the 1970’s in order to bring it current with advances in technology, and to assist in curbing the steady increases in reported collection abuses.

Collection abuse has been #1 in industry complaints to the Federal Trade Commission several years running.

2010 saw quite a bit of interest and activity toward amending the FDCPA.  The process to amend the Act is well underway.

Want to see the collection industry cleaned up virtually overnight?

Impose a 10k penalty per FDCPA violation.

Think a penalty of ten thousand dollars is that far fetched? The FTC recently put in place an up to 16k penalty per Telemarketing Sales Rule violation that is primarily imposed upon debt relief advertisers, marketers, and service providers – companies who promote they help consumers resolve delinquent debt.

Congress could certainly impose similar statutory penalty caps for violations of the FDCPA against collection agencies – companies who work with creditors and debt buyers to resolve delinquent debt.

You have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

When struggling to manage your debt, however, it often seems as though those rights have been suspended!

The struggle to pay bills can make you feel as though you don’t have a life. If it seems as though all you are doing is working to pay the bills and getting nowhere, you could feel imprisoned. If you are buried under a mountain of debt, a sense of gloom will sometimes permeate your thoughts. That sense of gloom can turn into DOOM if you have fallen behind in payments.

Enter the Debt Collector

{cue scary suspense theme music here}

Dealing with tough financial times is hard enough as it is. When debt collectors start ringing your phone at 8 am and do not stop until 9 pm, your phone begins to resemble something with scales and sharp teeth!

When you pick up the phone and speak to whoever is on the other end, you will experience different types of collection efforts. People in the collection business often develop either a good cop or a bad cop persona.

Speaking to and repeating your current financial hardship to a good cop collector can be tedious, but otherwise not unpleasant. Speaking to a bad cop collector can be about as pleasant as running your nails over a chalk board repeatedly.

We’ve Got You Covered

We will continue to develop our coverage of this topic and add resources for dealing effectively with collection abuse. Debt Bytes will publish a resource guide for victims of abusive and illegal collection tactics that will be linked to this post and all future posts on this topic. Here at Debt Bytes, we will cover debt collection extensively:

• You need to know how to be a winner in the collection game.
• You need to know you have rights that protect you from abusive and illegal collection practices.
• You need to know there are solid resources available to you for legal assistance if a collector violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (pdf doc).

Debt Collection Questions?

For now, you can:

1. Post your question right here in the comment section below.
2. Start a new post with your question at Ask CRN.
3. Fill out our consultation request form to schedule a time to speak with an experienced CRN Debt Specialist.
4. Or call 800-939-8657 and press ext. 3 to schedule a consult.

CRN specialists have many years of experience assisting people with putting an end to their struggles with debt. Contact us to find out if we can help you.

Debt Happens. Freedom from debt happens too!