Debt Collectors

Chapter 93, Section 49 of the Massachusetts General Laws characterizes certain debt collection practices as "unfair and deceptive," allowing the aggrieved part to sue for damages under the consumer protection act (Chapter 93A).

You should also look at the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which severely limits the types of practices that creditors and their agent can engage in. For a good explanation of the Act, go to the FTC's web site at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 49 reads:

No one who is a creditor or an attorney for a creditor, or an assignee of a creditor, of a natural person present or residing in Massachusetts who has incurred a debt primarily for personal, family or household purposes shall collect or attempt to collect such debt in an unfair, deceptive or unreasonable manner.

For the purposes of this section, such collection or attempt to collect shall be deemed unfair, deceptive or unreasonable if:

(a) The creditor communicates, threatens to communicate, or implies the fact of such debt or alleged debt to a person other than the person who might reasonably be expected to be liable therefor, or to an authorized user after the fact if that status is communicated to the creditor in writing, except with the written permission of the alleged debtor. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prohibit a creditor from notifying a debtor of the fact that the creditor may report a debt or alleged debt to a credit bureau or engage an agent or an attorney for the purpose of collecting the debt or alleged debt. For the purposes of this paragraph, the use of language on envelopes indicating that the communication relates to the collection of a debt shall be deemed a communication of such debt or alleged debt.

(b) The creditor communicates directly with the alleged debtor after notification from an attorney representing such debtor that all further communications relative to the debt should be addressed to him.

(c) The creditor communicates with the alleged debtor in such a manner as to harass or embarrass the alleged debtor, including, but not limited to communication at an unreasonable hour, with unreasonable frequency, by threats of violence, by use of offensive language, or by threats of any action which the creditor in the usual course of business does not in fact take.

(d) The creditor communicates with alleged debtors through the use of forms or instruments that simulate the form and appearance of judicial process.

Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the provisions of chapter ninety-three A.