Clarifications to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

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48 cosponsors · 10 D, 38 R

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Clarifications to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to state that formal pleadings in a civil action shall not be considered the kind of communication (initial or otherwise) required for a validation of debt notice.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Sep 10, 2003

Prescribes an alternative version of the initial communication debt collectors are required to give consumers, incorporating the three statements currently specified.

States that collection activities and communications may continue during the 30 days following a debt collector's initial notice to the debtor.

States that, if the consumer's attorney at law fails to respond to a communication from a debt collector within 30 days (currently, a reasonable period of time) after receiving a communication from the collector, such collector may communicate directly with the consumer.

Limits to one the number of additional communications a debt collector may make to a consumer after the consumer has notified the collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay the debt or wishes the collector to cease further communication. Limits the content of any such additional communication to one of the three purposes already specified by the Act.

Revises notice of debt guidelines to require one of the debt collector's mandatory statements to specify that a consumer's dispute of the validity of a debt be submitted in writing in order to preclude an assumption by the collector that the debt is valid.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Clarifications to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Latest action (Oct 3, 2003): Referred to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector · Origin: House · Introduced: Sep 10, 2003

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.