If you are a victim of illegal debt collection practices — including if your credit is damaged due to the practices — there are consumer protection laws to protect you, and pay your legal fees and costs, including the services of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawyers.
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (15 U.S.C.§ 1792) prohibits collectors from various unfair practices, such as failing to validate the debt obligation, threatening litigation or other legal action, collecting on or reporting to credit on a debt you don’t owe, harassing you, and engaging in fraudulent behavior.
While the FDCPA generally applies only to bill collectors and not to the original creditors, California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§1788 et seq.) extends similar consumer protection against the illegal debt collection practices of creditors (i.e. the persons who claim the debt is owed to them).
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (15 U.S.C. §1681) is a federal law that protects consumers from unfair credit reporting actions or other abuses of the use of credit reports.
These laws may also be used in concert with other Consumer Protection laws to protect you from debt collection abuse, provide you with compensation for your actual damages, and make offenders pay statutory penalties, punitive damages, and/or your legal fees and costs.