In order to skirmish the topics associated with harassing debt collectors and debt collection companies, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (also known as the FDCPA) was constructed. The laws and regulations determined by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act not only guard consumers, but they also assist debt collection agencies as well by encouraging them to act in a serious and professional manner when engaging in dialog with supposed debtors.

In most situations lenders are within their rights to pursue payment. This includes situations where the borrower is delinquent in their responsibilities and then consequently default on their financial obligations, and or if the borrower simply needs a little more time due to crude financial circumstances and strain. These above situations represent instances in which the lender is not acquiring his due payments from the borrower when they began with a reasonable expectation of being paid back in an adequate time frame. No matter the reason in these cases, the lender in question is legally within their rights to seek payment that they are due.

In these situations, a lot of times lenders have no other option but to become involved with a collection agency. The goal of collection agencies is to recover and collect all of the monies that are overdue to their clients (the lenders). Due to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, collection companies can not act neglectfully and with inadvertence for the consequences of their actions when trying to recover monies for their clients.There are several conditions that come along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as enacted in 1978. These conditions both protect debtors and enable collection companies to strongly pursue valid debts.

Even if a debtor instructs a collections representative to conclude all further contact with him there are other means by which a debt collection representative may strive for the valid debt. For example, under the FDCPA, while the collection rep must accept the debtors request to cease any further contact with them, they are also perfectly within their rights to make the debtor aware that they intend to pursue the debt via legal channels through an attorney.

If the collection agency responsible for recovering the delinquent account cannot communicate with or cannot reach the debtor, then they are legally allowed to contact third parties related to the debtor. However, under the FDCPA there are some boundaries to contacting third parties. First and foremost, the collection rep cannot harass the third party or be non-courteous. Also importantly, the collection rep cannot violate the right of privacy of the debtor by disclosing the nature of the call to this third party.

Among protocols for collection agencies to abide by, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also has a penalization system in place for those collection companies that do not abide by the aforementioned stipulations. These penalties against collection agencies found to be in violation of the FDCPA include: fines; license revocation; and even legal actions.

At first glance it appears as though the guidelines of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act are strongly skewed toward the debtor. However, these rules also protect the debt collection agency by helping them steer to wards fair practices and policies in a courteous and professional manner. Without the FDCPA, the unprofessional behaviors of some select few collection agencies would go unchecked and thus would undermine the entire reputation of the business of debt collection.

Mallory Megan works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also does stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collections agencies.