Who is a Debt Collector as Covered by the Laws Against Debt Collection Abuse?
Under California law, any company that regularly collects debts, whether its own debts or someone elses, is a debt collector and subject to the debt collection abuse laws. Thus, if a creditor such as Macys, Mastercard, MBNA, Bank of America, Countrywide Mortgage, Wells Fargo or your local doctor or dentist regularly collects debts, even their own debts, then they are subject to Californias debt collection laws. Federal debt collection laws apply only to debt collectors in the more traditional sense: companies or persons that collect someone elses debts. However, if a creditor collects its own debts in another name, it is subject to the federal laws. Thus, for example, if Bank of America ever collected its own debts using the name Debt Collectors of America, it would be subject to the federal debt collection laws as well as the California laws. Debt collection laws also apply to attorneys or law firms that regularly collect debts.
