The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking action to protect
consumers from harmful debt collection practices.
The agency issued two bulletins Wednesday. The first warns debt collectors about
the following practices:
- Threatening
action that the debt collector doesn’t have the authority to use.
- Falsely
representing the character, amount, or legal status of the debt.
- Misrepresenting
that a consumer’s debt would be waived or forgiven if a settlement offer is
accepted.
- Failing to
properly post payments to a consumer’s account with payments then charge late
fees.
A second advisory warns debt collectors to avoid deceptive claims about the
positive effects of payment of a debt on credit scores, credit reports, and
creditworthiness.
The bureau also announced that it’s now
taking complaints about debt collection. To submit a complaint, consumers can:
- Go online at www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint.
- Call 855-411-2372.
- Fax 855-237-2392.
- Mail a letter to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
P.O. Box 4503, Iowa City, Iowa 52244.
Student loan borrowers who have been
contacted by a debt collector can learn more about their options at Repay Student Debt.
A factsheet about debt collection is
available at: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201307_cfpb_factsheet_debt-collection.pdf.
