Many people have bad experiences with debt collectors and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) wants to hear about them. They are preparing to update the rules that govern how debt collectors communicate with borrowers and they are seeking information from both debt collection companies and consumer advocates to help them prepare the new rules. Their goal is to better protect consumers while not limiting legitimate debt collection activities.

Last year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted several very significant changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The changes to the regulations will become effective on October 16, 2013. Two of the changes include:

Attorneys have known since 1995 when Heintz v. Jenkins was issued by the United States Supreme Court that attorneys who seek to collect on consumer debts for clients, even when it is through litigation, they may be considered a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

Credit reports can impact aspects of a person’s life, either positively or negatively. The information can impact whether you can get a loan, how much you will need to pay in order to borrow money, and help protect you from identity theft. Errors on your credit reports that can have a negatively impact occur when a person has applied for credit under different names, a clerical errors was made in reading or entering names or address information from a hand written application, an inaccurate Social Securit