FDCPA Judgment Issues

I am not an attorney, I am a judgment referral specialist (Judgment Broker). The FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) are a set of laws determining (among other things) how one can communicate with debtors.

The FDCPA is both a guide and a code of conduct for debt collectors. In general, the FDCPA protects debtors from creditors, and offers debtors rights and remedies for any creditor violations.

As with many laws, the full set of FDCPA laws are lengthy and difficult to understand. Some of the most important parts specify that creditors must be careful not to disclose to others about the judgment debtor's debt.

You must avoid any form of improper disclosures. You may tell the debtor's spouse as per "section 805". However, you cannot tell a debtor's boss the debtor owes a debt, and you may not put "debt or judgment collector" on envelopes mailed to the debtor, etc.

Another important part of the FDCPA laws are that you can not threaten (or even mention to a debtor) any action that you are not fully ready and legally able to perform. For example, you cannot tell the debtor that they may lose their house, unless you really can and will cause that to happen.

Some Judgment Enforcers debate that when one purchases a judgment and enforces it, they are not a third-party debt collector, and may not have to worry about following any FDCPA laws.

However, most Judgment Enforcers follow the FDCPA laws because they are generally common sense, are somewhat vague, and the penalties for not following FDCPA laws can be severe.

Also, sometimes what you do and call yourself does not matter; the laws still apply to you, even if you think they do not.

That said, I think the FDCPA laws can hurt debtors, because they can prevent them from "smelling the coffee" and paying, before a more drastic thing happens. The FDCPA laws sometimes hurt the consumers (debtors) they were intended to protect.

As an example, a Judgment Creditor can have the sheriff seize and sell a judgment debtor's car with no prior notice to the judgment debtor. In some states, when this is done, the creditor gets the car, and the debtor still must pay off the vehicle loan!

The FDCPA laws prevent one from calling the debtor and communicating anything remotely like "it would be in your best interest to work out a payment arrangement with me. If you do not, something very bad is going to happen in the next few weeks". This can be completely true, but communicating that is considered a "threat" under the FDCPA laws.

If one tells a judgment debtor "if they do not start paying, you are going to have the sheriff take their car and sell it", the judgment debtor may hide their vehicle. Often, such wordings may cause many debtors to set up a payment plan to avoid getting their vehicle seized. However, in some cases, such wordings could be used by the judgment debtor against you, alleging FDCPA violations.

According to the FDCPA, Judgment Enforcers are better off simply having the sheriff seize the judgment debtor's car one day out of the blue, than to use this potential possibility to encourage the judgment debtor to "smell the coffee" and set up a payment plan.


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Mark D. Shapiro - Judgment Referral Expert - http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Judgments go to get Purchased or Enforced!