LAWDOG Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act
MORE DETAIL: The
Creditor's Attorney
LAWDOG
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A Portion of Section 805......
Communication in connection with debt collection...
(b) Communication with third parties
Except as provided in section 804 of this title,
without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector,
or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably
necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector
may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with
any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting
agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the
creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.
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(d) "Consumer"
defined
For the purpose of this section, the term "consumer"
includes the consumer's spouse, parent (if the consumer is a minor), guardian,
executor, or administrator.
![[FTC Staff Commentary]](oftc5.gif)
5. Non-excepted parties. A debt collector
may discuss the debt only with the parties specified in this section (consumer,
creditor, a party's attorney, or credit bureau). For example, unless the
consumer has authorized the communication, a collector may not discuss
the debt (such as dishonored check) with a bank, or make a report on a
consumer to a non-profit counseling service.
8. Communications by attorney debt collectors.
An attorney who represents either a creditor or debt collector that has
previously tried to collect an account may communicate his efforts to collect
the account to the debt collector. Because the section permits a debt collector
to communicate with "the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney
of the debt collector", communications between these parties (even
if the attorney is also a debt collector) are not forbidden.
An attorney may communicate with a potential
witness in connection with a lawsuit he has filed (e.g., in order to establish
the existence of a debt), because the section was not intended to prohibit
communications by attorneys that are necessary to conduct lawsuits on behalf
of their clients.
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