Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

What it means

The Act governs third-party collectors rather than the original creditor. It restricts when and how often they may call, what they may say, and whom they may contact.

After a death it allows a collector to speak to the personal representative about the estate's debts. It does not make relatives personally liable, and a collector implying otherwise is on the wrong side of the rule.

A written request to stop contacting you generally has to be honored, and a written request for validation of the debt has to be answered before collection continues.

Why it matters

Collectors contact grieving families routinely, and the single most useful thing to know is that the estate owes the debt and the relative usually does not.

The right to demand validation in writing costs nothing and stops a great deal of pressure, particularly on debts that turn out not to be owed at all.

When you are likely to meet it

• When collectors contact the family after a death.
• When somebody is asked to pay a parent's credit card personally.
• When a debt is claimed after the creditor claim period has closed.

Related terms

• Creditor claim periodThe window, set by state law, in which somebody owed money by the estate has to present the claim or lose it.
• EstateEverything the person owned at the moment they died, treated as one thing that has to be settled.
• Insolvent estateAn estate that owes more than it holds. State law then decides who gets paid, in what order, and who gets nothing.
• Notice to creditorsA formal announcement that an estate has been opened, which starts the clock on how long anyone owed money has to say so.
• Secured and unsecured debtWhether a debt is attached to a particular thing. It decides who has to be paid, in what order, and what happens if the estate cannot pay everyone.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Debts after a death