A. [§ 12.8] Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

A. [§ 12.8] Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692, et seq, specifically provides that it does not annul, alter, affect or exempt any person subject to its provisions from complying with the laws of any state with respect to debt collection practices, except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with any of its provisions, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency. 15 U.S.C. § 1692n (1998). A state law is not inconsistent with the Act if the protection such law affords any consumer is greater than the protection provided by the Act. Id.

The FDCPA protects consumers from unfair practices used to collect a debt, where a debt arises from transactions in "money, property, insurance or services . . . for personal, family or household purposes." The FDCPA further protects consumer debtors from invasions of privacy and from abusive, unfair and deceptive collection practices. The FDCPA prohibits most communications...