The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was passed back in 1977, long before typical American households had so much as one computer, much less the smartphones of today. The FDCPA even discusses communications by debt collectors over telegrams. Consequently, there’s been some anxiety over collectors using social media to locate debtors or communicate with them.
Although the FDCPA was updated most recently in 1996, it obviously does not forbid debt collectors from using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or other platforms to go about their business. It’s unfortunate because much like telephones (or telegrams) people expect to be able exert their privacy boundaries in social media, no matter how counterintuitive that sounds.
Most commonly, collectors will simply use social media to locate debtors. Often, debtors move, change addresses without leaving forwarding information, move multiple times in a year, etc. This hampers legitimate collection efforts. Social media, on the other hand, is anchored to the individuals unlike how phone numbers and personal addresses are connected to geographic locations. People “want” to be found on social media.
In some instances, though, debt collectors will be a bit more assertive on social media, reaching out to debtors’ friends, family, and followers to try to obtain contact information to resume more conventional calls. In rarer instances, collectors will even reach out to debtors directly.
The good news is that unlike the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which the FCC reformed via declaratory ruling in June, the FDCPA regulates the content of debt collectors’ communications with debtors, not the form. Collectors may not harass debtors, lie about their identities, fail to identify themselves as debt collectors, threaten to imprison debtors, contact debtors after being told in writing not to do so, and most other activities the law currently prohibits.
Moreover, the FTC, the federal agency that enforces the FDCPA, is aware of the changing telecommunications landscape. For example, responding to a complaint (pdf) by a lawyer that another lawyer had contacted her client via Facebook, the agency clarified, “[The FDCPA’s] protections for consumers apply regardless of the particular method of communication chosen by the debt collector,” and that collectors could breach the FDCPA via Facebook communications.
You can read more about what constitutes FDCPA violations here.
Dealing with debt collectors undoubtedly takes the fun out of social media, but it’s not totally unregulated. If your financial circumstances are at the point where collectors are contacting you on Facebook or elsewhere, then it’s time to discuss your situation with an experienced New York bankruptcy lawyer.
For answers to more questions about debt collection, bankruptcy, the automatic stay, effective strategies for dealing with foreclosure, and protecting your assets in bankruptcy please feel free to contact experienced fair debt collection practices act Bruce Weiner for a free initial consultation.
