WHAT IS A DEBT COLLECTOR?
Debt collectors are businesses or persons who collect debts on behalf of others. Most debt collectors are professional collection agencies. Collection agencies are often used by doctors, hospitals, stores, mail order merchants, and sometimes used by banks and loan companies. In addition, most attorneys collecting debts for their clients are “debt collectors” under federal law. What is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? This is a federal law that protects consumers from being harassed and abused by debt collectors. The Act requires debt collectors to treat consumers fairly, and the Act gives consumers important rights. What debts and collectors are covered by the law? Personal, family and household debts are covered under the Act. For example, say you owe money to a jewelry store. If the jewelry store tries to collect the money, it is NOT covered by the Act. If, however, the jewelry store hires someone else (such as a collection agency or attorney) to collect that money, the collec
