FTC AND THE FDCPA=CHANGE

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed changes to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that could have a major impact on the debt collection industry, including increasing damages for FDCPA suits, restricting collectors from calling mobile phones or texting, and laying out specific criteria for information in a debt validation notice.

To bring the FDCPA current with changes in the industry, the FTC made a number of proposals for changes to the law that governs collector behavior:

Debt collectors should provide better information in debt validation notices, including: (1) the name of the original creditor; and (2) itemization of: the principal, the total of all interest, and the total of all fees and other charges
The statutory damages awarded under the FDCPA should be increased to account for inflation.
The FTC should have regulatory authority under the FDCPA.
The law should generally prohibit debt collectors from contacting consumers via cell phones unless they have obtained prior express consent to such contacts.
Although the FTC recommended that statutory damages under the FDCPA be updated to reflect inflation, it did not offer a suggested amount. The report did note that the $1,000 cap put on violations in 1977 would be about $3,600 in 2008 dollars. The FTC said that it still believes the FDCPA is best enforced by private suits and class actions, a central rationale for increasing damages.