Major Players in the Debt Collection Field

Many people have no idea who regulates the debt collection industry. Many people have no idea where to go to if they need to dispute a claim, or have an issue with a collection company. With more people going default on their payments and people dealing with collectors that they never thought they would, this article can make you more knowledgeable and can help lead you to be debt free.

The debt collection field is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, in fact all of the accounts receivable industry is regulated by the FTC. The FTC’s website is a valuable tool for everyone. The FTC has information and help if one has been scammed, or knows of a company that is fraudulent. They have a complaint form, and they can help consumers who are dealing with specific industries such as credit loans or computers & internet. In particular though for debt collection the FTC has released a piece of literature called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA has everything listed that a debt collector can or cannot do. On their website they have list how to properly dispute a debt. When the economy is slower, more people go into default, with more people owing money, skip-tracers are not 100% accurate so for some “debtors” they may have a very common name maybe the last name of Smith, so a collection agency may in fact make a mistake every now and then. Using the FTC’s website one can effectively dispute a debt; making phone calls, letters go away, as well as not having one’s credit score be affected. Any consumer (which is all of us) should go to the FTC’s website at one point or another just to see what the FTC can do for you.

Another major player in the debt collection field is the ACA – Association of Credit and Debt Collection Professionals. The ACA is an association of professionals in the credit and collection industry. They have an established set of standards, which they make their collectors adhere by. Probably the most crucial thing the ACA does though is they act as a mediator between debtors/consumers and collectors. On the front page of the ACA’s website there is a complaint form, ACA will help mediate collection problems w/o having to use the FTC, however if it is unable to resolve the issue, the ACA then sends complaints to the FTC. This helps to be as a filter to the FTC, helping everyone save government dollars and limited government resources of the FTC. ACA has been so effective the FTC often asks the ACA for their input and thoughts on debt collection. Recently the FTC is in the process of maybe creating a whole new government agency for credit and debt collection regulation/law making, and the FTC went to the ACA for their input on this. The ACA is a much better mediator than the Better Business Bureau due to the fact the BBB is often biased against certain parties. Also the BBB will not do anything to actually solve a problem, the ACA will send complaints if needed to the FTC. The ACA is much more helpful and unbiased when it comes to credit and debt collection complaints and concerns.