Thanks to lawmakers and federal banking regulators, your credit card monthly statements have to carry more details than before. Credit Card Act of 2009 has mandated certain disclosures.
Now the new statements are designed to be more reader-friendly and help credit cardholders easily find important information on their monthly statements. Displayed are payments due, the amount owed, the consequences of making late payments and how much you are paying in fees and interest on different types of accounts.
Among the new features, there is one that warns consumers about the result of making only minimum payments each month. Each credit card bill must now have a box that states how long (in months or years) it will take to pay off the entire balance if the card-holder makes the minimum payment compared to how long it might take to pay it off when making higher payments. This box also states the total dollar amount cardholders would pay when both interest and principal are made factors in the payment plan. The results can be eye-opening for some borrowers
By law, every credit card company is now required to display prominently how long it will take to pay off your credit card balance by only making the minimum payment. For a small balance of $600 on a credit card with a 14% interest rate, you will realize that you would need 6 years to get out of debt-at a cost of over $600. And 14% is a relatively low interest rate.
Fortunately, there is a relatively easy way to save money on credit card interest and significantly reduce credit card debt at the same time. This is the balance transfer.
Along with the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) guidelines, the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) require credit card interest, finance charges and total loan to be displayed on the monthly statement. These TILA and FDCPA guidelines along with the Credit Card Act will now ensure complete protection of card holders.
Balance transfers are simple transactions. You have to move your higher interest credit card debt to a new credit card that offers a low promotional rate typically 0% for the first year. During this 0% interest period, your credit card balances do not accrue interest and this saves you a lot of money which you would have otherwise spent on reducing interest to decrease principal amount
Balance transfers are effective tools to reduce credit card interest expenses, indeed. However, balance transfers come with a cost. There is a one time fee of 3.5% and balance transfers can be completed in minimum time. The biggest advantage in balance transfers is that you would not end up in debt collector harassment due to defaulted payment on credit cards.
2009 recorded an all time high in the FDCPA violation lawsuits. There were 8287 lawsuits in 2009 compared to 5188 in 2008. In 2009, 16.8% of all the FTC complaints were about third party debt collectors. A total of 88,190 complaints in 2009 as against 78,925 complaints in 2008 were registered. (Source: www.ftc.gov/os/2010/04/P104802fdcpa2010annrpt.pdf)
The FDCPA Violations by the debt collectors:
Each violation attracts $1000.00 in a court of law.
A study of the complaints in 2009 shows the following FDCPA violations:
Harassment by debt collectors in any form is a violation of the FDCPA and is not tolerated by the practitioners of the Act. The Act has been instrumental in keeping the unfair debt collectors at bay. Knowledge of your right in the FDCPA can help you to keep debt collection harassment away.
In spite of your knowledge of the Act and following it to the word, if you are still troubled by debt collectors you may engage an FDCPA attorney who can represent your case and help you sue the debt collectors.
Three very important steps to stopping of debt collection are identifying whether you owe a debt or not, reviewing your right and taking action of your right has been violated.
The Fair debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
was established by the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
to ensure fair debt collection practices. The FDCPA
is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and private attorneys governs fair debt collection methods.
Any violation of the FDCPA
can attract a compensation of $1000 per violation.
The following are the
FDCPA Violations by debt collectors:
Are you a victim of debt collection calls? First find out if the debt collection company has been calling you by mistake. Even if it is calling by mistake or calling to ask for a relative or a friend, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects you from any type of harassment from debt collectors. If a debt collector calls you repeatedly and despite your repeated requests, continues to call, the FDCPA rights protect you.
Under the FDCPA rights, you may
Take action if the debt collector has not
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA, is a law that protects individuals from overzealous debt collectors and dishonest collection agencies practices.
Although you may owe them money, they can’t break the law when making an attempt to collect the debt.
The law guards you, regardless of if you owe the debt. The law declares that whenever a debt collector crosses the line with you, they owe you money damages. Yes, they can owe you money damages.
What could possibly be better than requiring an unscrupulous collector to pay you money damages? How about pushing them to pay your attorney fees, too.
That’s right. The same law that defends you from unlawful debt collection activity also makes the debt collector to pay your lawyer for his services as well.
We are professionals in the area of consumer law working with collection agencies who cross the line.
If we take on your case, and we prevail, we will collect money damages on your behalf, and charge the debt collector for our rates and fees. If we don’t prevail, we charge you absolutely nothing.
Furthermore, we can sometimes force the collection agency to completely eliminate the debt in question from your credit profile.
Our professional services are totally free to consumers who are being harassed by collectors and we get them to compensate you.
The FCRA lawyers and FDCPA attorneys here at Our Firm are dedicated to the protection of consumer’s legal rights in all areas of credit, collections, and reporting, providing the most recognized and experienced consumer rights lawyers and collection harassment attorneys possible to enable you to fight back against debt collectors who could be violating the law so that they can get your money.
The FDCPA dictates that the collection agency must pay your reasonable attorney fees if you win your lawsuit! We can even improve your court case fees! If your case is not profitable, you still will not have to pay us! You can fight back whenever collectors go over the line. No fees to you – the collection agency will have to compensate you if you win your suit and they must pay your attorney costs.
Even if you owe the debt or some portion of the debt but have fallen behind, that does not give anyone the right to threaten and embarrass you, and you have the ability to fight back in opposition to telephone harassment, and cease collection calls, collection agency harassment calls, debt collection calls to your work or to relatives, and other debt collector calls which might be in violation of FDCPA Laws.
Congress passed a law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) in 1977 to guard consumers from harassing debt collectors. The FDCPA says, in effect, that consumer debt collectors must stick to basic guidelines when dealing with customers.
The following types of conduct by a debt collector regarding a consumer over the telephone, in writing, or in person will most likely be a breach of the FDCPA:
If you feel that you have been handled in this manner, you may have a right to sue the debt collector and get money back from THEM for their own misconduct.
If a debt collector has left you a voicemail for you or discussed your matter with co-workers or other family members they may have violated the FDCPA rules on debt collection harassment and debt collector’s rights.
We are happy to review your circumstance and let you know if you have a case. There is zero cost to you.
FDCPA Attorneys, Consumer Rights Lawyers, Collection Harassment Lawyers, Stop Debt Collectors, FDCPA Debt, Credit Collections, Debt Collectors Rights, FDCPA Laws and More.
If you are successful in an FDCPA claim, you sue debt collector violators and possibly get up to $1,000.00 for the infraction plus any actual damages you may have endured. The best part is the collector will have to pay your attorney expenses.
We do not charge any fees to you; we just collect from the collector!!
If you believe that a debt collector has disregarded the law in an attempt to make contact with you, whether by mail or phone, the FCRA Lawyers and FDCPA lawyers here at Our Firm have an experienced team of consumer rights attorneys and collection harassment lawyers who are prepared to help you fight back against abuse and quite possibly win a claim against them.
Thanks to lawmakers and federal banking regulators, your credit card monthly statements have to carry more details than before. Credit Card Act of 2009 has mandated certain disclosures. Now the new statements are designed to be more reader-friendly and help credit cardholders easily find important information on their monthly statements. Displayed are payments due, the [...]
The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) came into existence to protect consumers against unfair and unethical practices of debt collectors. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FDCPA is a federal statute that shields consumers from unscrupulous debt collection methods.Debt Collectors resort to harassment of consumers and violate the FDCPA. Despite your debt, [...]
Three very important steps to stopping of debt collection are identifying whether you owe a debt or not, reviewing your right and taking action of your right has been violated. The Fair debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ensure fair debt collection practices. The FDCPA is enforced [...]
When debt collectors harass you, they have broken the law! The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA, is a law that protects individuals from overzealous debt collectors and dishonest collection agencies practices. Some common illegal strategies by debt collectors are: Calls to you at work Calls to you at home at late hours. Threats to [...]
