Having a debt collection agency hound you can cause considerable fear and anxiety. It can also bring shame to you because of the perceptions friends and family members have about your financial integrity.
The physical and emotional roller coaster ride can lead to financial losses stemming from lost time at work and having to pay for one or more medical bills. Do you have a way to fight back against a third party debt collector?
The answer is a resounding yes.
In response to growing consumer discontent with bill collectors, the United States Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Considered by many legal scholars to represent the consumer bill of rights, the FDCPA prohibits previously acceptable bill collector tactics.
The groundbreaking consumer protection law leaves no doubt about which tactics are no longer allowed to be used by third party debt collectors.
What are the FDCPA Laws in Minnesota?
Like many other federal laws, the FDCPA is supposed to provide comprehensive legal protections for American citizens. However, the FDCPA leaves a few legal matters open for states to interpret, and every state has responded by passing their own versions of the FDCPA.
State FDCPA laws typically confirm what the FDCPA has mandated as illegal debt collection practices. For example, Minnesota lists many of the same deceptive debt collection practices outlawed by the federal state FDCPA.
Minnesota has also established a statute of limitations for the collection of outstanding credit card and personal loan accounts, which runs six years if the original creditor doesn’t have a judgment imposed on you. The six-year clock starts on the day of the last payment made on a consumer account.
![How Minnesota's FDCPA Laws Can Help Protect You]()
Protections granted by the FDCPA and Minnesota Collection Laws
Did you know that under the FDCPA, you have the right to send a formal notice to a debt collection agency requesting the end of all forms of communication? If a third party debt collector continues to call you after receiving your cease and desist letter, you should contact a FDCPA attorney to pursue the proper legal course.
A bill collector isn’t permitted to call you at work if your employer forbids phone calls from debt collection agencies in the workplace. Other prohibited debt collection practices mandated by the FDCPA include using abusive language and threatening to seize private property.
One part of Minnesota FDCPA laws is called a licensing provision, which means third party debt collectors must be granted a license issued by the state government to open a debt collection business in The North Star State.
Minnesota FDCPA laws make it illegal to use misleading or deceptive tactics in the collection of delinquent consumer debts. Bill collectors are not allowed to impersonate government agencies, as well as try to contact your neighbors in attempts to bring you humiliation and embarrassment.
Minnesota FDCPA laws don’t give consumers the right to seek monetary damages. However, the federal FDCPA gives you the right to recover financial losses.
Don’t let a debt collection agency push you around. Speak with a Minnesota licensed FDCPA attorney to fight back against aggressive third party debt collector practices.
If you believe that a debt collector is violating Minnesota’s FDCPA laws, you should seek the help of an FDCPA attorney. You may be able to seek up to $1,000 in damages for each violation of the FDCPA. An attorney will be able to help navigate you through the entire process.
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