Public service notice. BeforeYouFile.Info and Form America LLC do not handle debt collection matters and do not coach, advise, instruct, or provide legal guidance to consumers dealing with debt collectors. Nothing in this article is legal advice or legal instruction. The only legal information it contains is quoted or summarized from the federal, state, and county government publications and Florida Bar publications cited in the numbered notes, and it is shared as a public service announcement only.
Federal agencies, the State of Florida, The Florida Bar, and several county clerks publish free materials for consumers contacted by debt collectors or sued over a debt. This article gathers those resources, quotes the government publications in their own words, and links to each original in the numbered notes at the end.
Everything that follows is quoted or summarized from the publications cited. None of it represents legal advice, legal instruction, or the legal opinions of the author.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) maintains a debt collection section that opens, “Debt collection issues can be challenging. You do not have to face them alone.” It describes its materials as resources that “can help you understand how debt collection works and what your rights are.”¹ The section is organized into basics, key terms, common issues, rights, and how-to guides, including a guide on “What to do if a creditor or debt collector sues you.” It also offers two printable handouts, “Know your rights when a debt collector calls” and “Act fast if you cannot pay your credit cards.”¹
The CFPB’s page on what to do when a debt collector calls states that a collector is “in general, legally required to provide you with certain information about the debt during that initial communication or within five days of the initial communication,” including “the name of the creditor, the amount you owe, and how to dispute the debt.” It adds, “If the debt collector doesn’t or can’t provide this information, it could be a scam.”²
The same page offers five downloadable sample letters, titled “I do not owe this debt,” “I need more information about this debt,” “I want the debt collector to stop contacting me,” “I want the debt collector to only contact me through my lawyer,” and “I want to specify how the debt collector can contact me.” The CFPB notes that “In certain situations, you only have 30 days after you’re contacted to ask for certain information,” and states, “These sample letters are not legal advice.”² The CFPB’s site includes a complaint portal and lists the telephone number (855) 411-2372.¹
The Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publishes a free booklet titled Debt Collection FAQs, available in English and Spanish. In the FTC’s words, “When a debt collector calls, it’s important to know your rights and what you need to do. The FTC enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which makes it illegal for debt collectors to use abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices when they collect debts. This Q&A booklet explains what you need to know if you are contacted about a debt.”³ The booklet can be downloaded and printed for free, and printed copies can be ordered at no charge.³
The booklet is organized as questions and answers, with headings that include “How can a debt collector contact me?”, “What does the debt collector have to tell me about the debt?”, “What are debt collectors not allowed to do?”, and “What if my debt is old?” It lists the FTC (ftc.gov/complaint) and the CFPB (cfpb.gov/complaint) as places to report a debt collector, and notes that “Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices act.”⁴
The State of Florida: Office of Financial Regulation
Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) publishes the “Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act Complaint Form” (Form OFR-559-102). According to the form, “Your complaint will be analyzed, entered into a database and may help OFR detect a pattern of wrong-doing which may indicate the need for formal investigation or action by OFR to protect the broad public interest.”⁵
The form also states, “Under Florida law, OFR is charged with enforcing financial regulations and does not intervene on behalf of individuals or mediate private disputes. If your purpose in filing a complaint is to recover money or property, we suggest that you consider arbitration, mediation or the courts.” It adds that “Private rights of action pursuant to arbitration and civil proceedings may have certain filing timeframes” and that “You should consider consulting legal counsel prior to or concurrent with our review.”⁵
The form’s third page lists prohibited practices a consumer may check, each followed by a citation to section 559.72 of the Florida Statutes. Among them are a company that “pretended to be law enforcement or another governmental agency,” “told someone else about my debt,” made “Abusive/harassing phone calls (includes repeated calls),” “impersonated an attorney or law office,” or “called me between 9 pm to 8 am (in my time zone).”⁵ The form lists its mailing address as the OFR’s Division of Consumer Finance, Consumer Assistance Group, 200 E. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0370, telephone (850) 487-9687.⁵
The Florida Bar’s consumer pamphlets
The Florida Bar’s Consumer Protection Law Committee produces a library of free consumer pamphlets as a public service. Two of them concern debt collection, Debtors’ Rights in Florida, listed under the Bar’s “Credit” pamphlets, and Small Claims: All About Collection Lawsuits, listed under its “Civil” pamphlets.⁶ The full text of each is available on the Bar’s website, linked in the notes at the end.⁷ ⁸
The Bar describes its pamphlets as providing basic legal information and states that they are “not a substitute for hiring an attorney.”⁶ The same page lists The Florida Bar’s statewide Lawyer Referral Service, reachable toll-free at 800-342-8011, for areas without a local bar referral program.⁶
County clerk resources
None of the county clerk sites reviewed for this article publish a debt collection packet as such, but several publish general civil forms, including forms listed for defendants and for small claims judgments. The Collier County Clerk’s civil forms page lists a “General Answer Form,” which the Clerk describes as “used by a defendant to formally respond to a civil complaint filed in Florida courts,” along with a “General Motion Form” and a collection of small claims packets.⁹ The Clerk adds that the forms “are not intended to serve as legal advice and do not substitute for competent legal counsel or direct legal research.”⁹
The Orange County Clerk of Courts lists an “Affidavit of Claim of Exemption” among the related documents on its civil division’s Foreclosure Education page, alongside a civil indigent status application.¹⁰ The Sarasota Clerk and Comptroller’s small claims forms include a “Fact Information Sheet” in individual and business versions, listed under “Small Claims Judgment.”¹¹ The forms are available on each clerk’s website.
Notes
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Debt collection
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What should I do when a debt collector contacts me?
- Federal Trade Commission, Debt Collection FAQs (publication page)
- Federal Trade Commission, Debt Collection FAQs (booklet)
- Florida Office of Financial Regulation, Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act Complaint Form, Form OFR-559-102
- The Florida Bar, Consumer Information and Pamphlets
- The Florida Bar, Debtors’ Rights in Florida
- The Florida Bar, Small Claims: All About Collection Lawsuits
- Collier County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Civil Forms
- Orange County Clerk of Courts, Foreclosure Education (related documents)
- Sarasota Clerk and Comptroller, Forms
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