A recent study that has been released by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has found that 26 percent of consumers have a material error on at least one of their three credit reports. Of the consumers in the study, 5 percent that had an error, once it was corrected they were placed in a different credit risk tier. This means that they could have been paying lower interest rates on automobile and home loans or credit cards.

Debt collectors are required to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). However, intimidation, harassment, and threats are still used in attempts to collect on debts.

It is common for debt collectors to call the wrong person. This occurs often when you have the same name as a debtor or you have recently changed your phone number to a number that a debtor previously had. Sometimes the number’s previous owner did not give the debt collectors their new contact information. They may have even changed their phone number in order to avoid calls from debt collectors. However, you should not be harassed by debt collectors for a debt that is not yours.

In order to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, and harassing debt collection practices the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) was enacted. Its purpose was to eliminate abusive debt collection practices that debt collectors engage in and protect consumers.