The Wall Street Journal recently published a new story entitled Hidden Medical Debt Trips Up Homeowners. The report documented several cases in which small medical bills that had been turned over to collection resulted in a more than 50 point drop in a homeowner’s credit score.
More on Tiny, Hidden Credit Report Errors Can Lead to Bankruptcy
As you may know, there are both federal and state laws that offer a variety of protections to individuals who are in debt and who are being dunned by debt collectors. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act offers a variety of protections in cases involving collection agencies (as opposed to the actual creditor). In other words, a credit card company can do and say certain things and remain legal, but if a collection agency does or says the exact same things, those actions would be a violation of the FDCPA and make the collection agency subject to a claim for damages.
Filed under Consumer protection, FDCPA Claims by 
