F air
D ebt
C ollection
P ractices
A ct
THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT
As amended by Pub. L. 109-351, §§ 801-02, 120 Stat. 1966 (2006)
As a public service, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has
prepared the following complete text of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
(FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p.
Please note that the format of the text differs in minor ways from the U.S.
Code and West’s U.S. Code Annotated. For example, this version uses FDCPA
section numbers in the headings. In addition, the relevant U.S. Code citation is
included with each section heading. Although the staff has made every effort
to transcribe the statutory material accurately, this compendium is intended as
a convenience for the public and not a substitute for the text in the U.S. Code.
Table of ConTenTs
§ 801 Short title
§ 802 Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
§ 803 Definitions
§ 804 Acquisition of location information
§ 805 Communication in connection with debt collection
§ 806 Harassment or abuse
§ 807 False or misleading representations
§ 808 Unfair practices
§ 809 Validation of debts
§ 810 Multiple debts
§ 811 Legal actions by debt collectors
§ 812 Furnishing certain deceptive forms
§ 813 Civil liability
§ 814 Administrative enforcement
§ 815 Reports to Congress by the Commission
§ 816 Relation to State laws
§ 817 Exemption for State regulation
§ 818 Exception for certain bad check enforcement programs operated by
private entities
§ 819 Effective date
§801
15USC1601note
§ 801. Short Title
This title may be cited as the “Fair Debt Collection Prac-
tices Act.”
§ 802. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
(a) There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, decep-
tive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt
collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to
the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability,
to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.
(b) Existing laws and procedures for redressing these in