Collections Practices and Compliance with the North Carolina Debt Collection Act
As the economy continues to slow down, many people are falling behind on making their debt payments and some are finding it difficult to make good on their debt obligations. At the same time, creditors have a greater need to ensure that debts owed to them are collected. The best solution is usually for the creditor and debtor to work together to reach a satisfactory resolution, however, this is not always feasible. Both creditors and consumer debtors should be aware of the North Carolina Unfair Debt Collection Act (“UDCA”). The UDCA essentially governs and regulates the practice of collecting debts in North Carolina and ensures the fairness and legality of the process. It is common knowledge that attempting to collect a debt by showing up at someone’s residence with a baseball bat and threatening violence is unlawful. But this knowledge alone is insufficient to protect you. Before attempting to engage in debt collection, you need to be familiar with the actual provisions of the UDCA.
If you are a creditor, are you making sure that you are following the law and are not engaging in unfair debt collection practices? If you are not, you could be subject to civil penalties.
If you are a consumer debtor, are you aware of some of your rights under the UDCA? This Act is not intended to relieve you of your obligations, but it does provide you with some protections.
Whether you are a creditor or a debtor, you should be aware of the UDCA. To learn more about it and about collections of debts in general, please contact Guy Milhalter with Anderson Jones, PLLC at (919) 277-2541 or by e-mail.