Credit Card Debt Laws

Detailed below are the five most important federal credit card debt laws. These laws are designed to protect consumers from predatory practices by lenders, debt collection agencies, and debt relief companies.

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1. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq.) makes it so that any creditor cannot lawfully discriminate any applicant based on creed, nationality, race, age, gender, or religion. Noncompliance with the ECOA can result in a civil liability case for actual or punitive damages, exceeding not more than $10,000 damage charges for an individual, and not more than the lesser of $500,000 or 1% of the creditor's net value in class actions. Read more about the law here
   
   
2. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) is a law regulating the storage, spread, and general usage of the data for consumers, as well as consumer credit information. It is enforced by the United States FTC, or Federal Trade Commission, and serves to ensure that all agencies keep accurate information for applicants and their data scores. This law is considered to work alongside the FDCPA statute to establish credit rights. Read the law here
   
   
3. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.), a statute with the solution for eliminating abusive practices when collecting debts owed to a business from a consumer. It allows for a fair and balanced collection of debt, and gives consumers a method for validating the accuracy of the debt that they are said to owe. With this statute, consumers may attempt to dispute such information if they feel it has represented something falsely. The Act outlines protocols that collectors must follow when conducting such matters. It also outlines consumer rights for dealings with debtors. This statute was added as Title VIII to the CCPA. Read the law here
   
   
4. The Consumer Credit Protection Act (Pub.L. 90-321, 82 Stat. 146) and the Truth in Lending Act. The CCPA was introduced with Title I, the Truth in Lending Act. TILA is a federal law established that deals with informing consumers about their credit. It establishes the need for the conditions and costs to be publically divulged so that the way costs involved with borrowing from a lender are calculated and disclosed in a more standardized fashion. That way, the consumer is informed about any important details regarding credit. Read more about the law here
   
   
5. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (Pub.L. 108-159) enables consumers to request and receive a free credit report every twelve months from each of Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Each of these agencies, along with the FTC, have set up www.annualcreditreport.com to give consumers access to those said reports. Read more about the law here