News & Views - 07/14/98

Tuesday, July 14, 1998

LET'S PLAY FAIR

Almost everyone has, at some time or another, written a bad check. You may have even made some arrangements with your bank - an attached savings account or line of credit - to guarantee that these occasional accidental overdrafts are covered. But many times, insufficient fund checks (NSF checks) are simply sent back to merchant as uncollectable. In those cases, businesses usually turn to collection agencies.

Lundgren & Associates, P.C., formerly of California and currently of Utah, is one of those agencies and on July 10 it's owner Alvin R. Lundgren agreed to settle FTC charges that he violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which regulates how debt collectors should conduct their business. According to the FTC, Lundgren used false, deceptive or misleading representations such as:

falsely representing the character, amount or legal status of a debt;
threatening to take action that he never intended to take, such as filing a lawsuit;
falsely representing that he had a right to collect triple the debt value as damages under California state civil law.
Under the FDCPA, debt collectors cannot do any of those things. To settle the FTC charges, Lundgren and his company are prohibited from violating the FDCPA in the future. For the next ten years, they must also make the following two disclosures in writing to every consumer they contact.
"Collection agencies like us must comply with a federal law that grants you certain rights. One of these is the right to have us stop communicating with you about this debt. If you write to us asking us to stop, we will. But if you owe this debt, you still owe it, and your creditor may continue to collect it from you. This law is administered by the Division of Credit Practices, Federal Trade Commission, Washington DC 20580."
and
"If you feel that the debt is being collected by unlawful means, you may contact the Division of Consumer Practices, Federal Trade Commission, Washington DC 20580."
If you are contacted by a debt collector, your best defense against unfair tactics is to know your rights. You should read the FTC's brochure on Fair Debt Collection Practices and contact the FTC to report any violations.
For more information, check out the FTC press release.
If you have any questions or would like to report an incident, please call NCL's National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch at 1-800-876-7060 or use one of our online forms.
NOTE: This consent decree is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendants of a law violation. Consent decrees have the force of law when signed by the judge.

PRINT PREVIEW
SEARCH THIS SITE
```
Links for Non-Frames Version
| Current News & Views |
| Subject Index of Past Articles |
| Chronological Index of Past Articles |

| About NFIC | About the National Consumers League |
| About the Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing | 
| Telemarketing Fraud | Internet Fraud Watch |
| Fraud Against the Elderly | 
| News & Views | Links | For the Media |
| How to Report Fraud & Ask Questions | 
| Back to Welcome Page (Frames Version) |
```
```
NFIC is a project of the National Consumers League. 
All rights reserved. © 1998.
```