Debt firms “slammed” by consumer lawsuits (according to Law.com)

Law.com recently ran this article about Fair Debt Collection Practices Act litigation against law firms doing collection work. The article starts this way:

Debt-collection lawyers are increasingly being hauled into court as defendants in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits by debt-burdened consumers who use litigation to fend off creditors.

I want to take issue with the last part of that quote. The FDCPA has nothing to do with the debt or fending off creditors. Collectors and law firms are free to continue collecting the debt, and debt forgiveness is not a remedy included in the FDCPA. The FDCPA only regulates the conduct of debt collectors. The text of the FDCPA is only seven pages long, and as Kenneth Quat, a consumer lawyer quoted in the article points out, it is pretty easy to follow:

Plaintiffs lawyer Kenneth Quat of Concord, Mass.-based Quat Law Offices, said provisions in the law concerning litigation, and how debt collectors are to communicate with the debt holder, are clear.

“It’s not even a close question,” Quat said. “It’s an instance of a particular industry not liking the law that’s on the books. They still have to follow it.”

And that’s about the size of it. Don’t believe the hype. Debt collectors, including collection law firms, need to know and follow the law, or they may get sued. The odds are in their favor, however, and I don’t think there is any evidence that debt firms are getting “slammed.” They are getting sued now and then, however, by the relatively few consumer lawyers out there. And when collectors violate debtors’ rights, they should get sued. That’s what the law is for, and that is what Congress intended.