OK, kids, it’s the same old song again, the FTC has tallied up its complaints about collections agencies for last year and they are pretty big. Just think if consumers were aware of their rights!

Some highlights:

1. The FTC received 70,951 FDCPA complaints in 2007. The FDCPA complaints represented 20.8% of the complaints the Commission received directly from consumers in 2007. By comparison, in 2006, the FTC received 69,249 FDCPA complaints, representing 19.9% of the complaints received directly from consumers that year.
2. The Commission receives more complaints about the debt collection industry than any other specific industry. (Last year the Commission received 341,080 complaints directly from consumers about ALL industries combined.)

Complaint types:

1. Number one complaint was DEMANDING A LARGER PAYMENT THAN IS PERMITTED BY LAW:. The FDCPA prohibits ebt collectors from misrepresenting the character, amount, or legal status of a debt. The types of complaints that fall in this category include, for example, allegations that a ollector is attempting to collect either a debt the consumer does not owe at all or a debt larger than what the consumer actually owes. Other complaints in this category allege demands for debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy. In 2007, far more FDCPA complaints – 38.6%, representing 27,393 consumers – described this conduct than any other.
2. Second largest complaint was HARASSING THE ALLEGED DEBTOR OR OTHERS: Under the FDCPA, debt collectors may not harass consumers to try to collect on a debt. In 2007, 19.7% of FDCPA complaints the Commission received, or 13,989 consumers, alleged that collectors harassed them by calling repeatedly or continuously.

To read the rest: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/03/P084802fdcpareport.pdf

Note:

The Commission receives both consumer inquires and complaints about debt collectors; the FTC’s Consumer Response Center makes every effort to distinguish the two categories. The data resented herein, therefore, refers to consumer contacts that the Consumer Response Center has
identified as complaints.

Consumers file complaints with the Commission via the FTC toll-free hotline (1-877-FTC-HELP), online complaint forms, or physical mail. State attorneys general and other sources also refer complaints to the Commission and, occasionally, the Commission hears from debt
collectors who are concerned that competitors’ allegedly violative practices may cause them to lose business. When the FTC’s report refers to “complaints,” the term refers solely to complaints that consumers have filed directly with the Commission.

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