Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - The FTC & FDCPA

The FTC & FDCPA

For its part, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) produces an annual report to Congress of its findings with respect to its FDCPA enforcement activities. This report details consumer complaints to the FTC about alleged debt collector violations of the FDCPA. The 2009 report indicated that the FTC received 78,838 consumer complaints about third party debt collectors in 2008, which is an increase from the 70,951 received in 2007. The FTC receives more complaints about debt collectors than about any other specific industry, though the number of complaints represents a small percentage of the overall number of contacts by debt collectors with consumers.

The FTC has authority to issue formal opinions regarding debt collectors' conduct under the FDCPA, but the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act transfers authority for rule making to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) effective between January 21, 2011 and July 21, 2011. The FTC will retain FDCPA enforcement authority, but the CFPB will take over the FTC's advisory opinion function. Good faith conformity with a formal opinion of the FTC constitutes a second statutory defense under the FDCPA. The FTC has only rarely exercised its authority to issue advisory opinions, however. Prior to 2000, the FTC had not issued any advisory opinions regarding the FDCPA, it has issued only four such opinions through 2009.