January 11, 2010

By: Shaun Ertischek, Esq.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently made recommendations to Congress regarding modifying the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to (1) ensure that debt collectors and debt buyers have adequate information about debts transferred and adequate documentation to verify the debts, (2) reflect technologies that were not prevalent when the FDCPA was originally enacted, and (3) provide the FTC with the authority to issue rules to implement the FDCPA.  The GAO believes that adequate account documentation will help prevent collectors from try to collect from the wrong consumer or for the wrong amount.  Also, when the FDCPA was enacted in 1977, mobile telephones, e-mail, and voice mail were not in use.  These technologies create uncertainties over how they can be utilized in compliance with the statute.  Lastly, the FDCPA did not provide rulemaking authority to the FTC, which has prevented the agency from addressing these and other concerns.  It will be interesting to see how Congress addresses these recommendations.