Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Enforcement of The FDCPA

Enforcement of The FDCPA

The Federal Trade Commission has the authority to administratively enforce the FDCPA using its powers under the Federal Trade Commission Act. But under sweeping financial regulation reforms, a recent proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department would call for the FDCPA to be administered by a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Aggrieved consumers may also file a private lawsuit in a state or federal court to collect damages (actual, statutory, attorney's fees, and court costs) from third-party debt collectors. The FDCPA is a strict liability law, which means that a consumer need not prove actual damages in order to claim statutory damages of up to $1,000 plus reasonable attorney fees if a debt collector is proven to have violated the FDCPA. The collector may, however, escape penalty if it shows that the violation (or violations) was unintentional and the result of a "bona fide error" that occurred despite procedures designed to avoid the error at issue.

Alternatively, if the consumer loses the lawsuit and the court determines that the consumer filed the case in bad faith and for the purposes of harassment, the court may then award attorney's fees to the debt collector.