Page 29 - Book8E

For example, debt collectors may not:
• use threats of violence or harm;
• publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
• use obscene or profane language; or repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.
• use any false or misleading statements when collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors may not:
1. falsely imply that they are attorneys or government representatives;
2. falsely imply that you have committed a crime;
3. falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau;
4. misrepresent the amount of your debt;
5. indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms when they are not; or
6. indicate that papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are.
Debt collectors also may not state that:
• you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
• they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so; or
• actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to take such action.
Debt collectors may not:
• give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit bureau;
• send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not; or
• use a false name.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act 19