What constitutes failure of the debt collector to identify himself?
Within the past couple of decades, the US Congress passed legislation regarding certain individuals being required by law to identify who they are whenever contacting consumers by either letter or (especially) telephone. The legislation primarily applied to telephone solicitors but it also applies to collection 
agencies and collection attorneys. If you have a caller ID application installed on your telephone, the company name and phone number must also be displayed.
Additionally, when you do not have caller ID, the first words out of that debt collectors mouth had better be their name and the company they are representing once they have confirmed your identity. In most circumstances, whenever you receive collection letters, there is usually no signature, only the name of the company on the letterhead. This is also legally questionable, but is not a hard and fast rule that a person’s name and signature must be on that written communication.
In any event, we are discussing the failure of a caller to identify themselves and it may require you contacting an FDCPA attorney or enlisting their services in order to see whether or not your rights have been violated and if you have the right to file a claim against that collection agency or collection attorney. According to the FDCPA, the first of 5 requirements placed on debt collectors is that they must identify who they are to the consumer whenever contacting them and in every communication thereafter.
They must provide you with specific information regarding being a debt collector, as well as all information that is obtained possibly being used to effect a collection of the debt in question. Indirectly related to this is that they are required to provide the following:
- the name and address of the original creditor
- notifying you of your right to dispute the debt in question
- providing you with verification of your debt and the amount of it
Additionally, should the debt collector decide to sue you for what you rightfully owe them, they must do so in a venue in your local area.
If you feel that a debt collector or collection attorney has violated your FDCPA rights, you should consider contacting one of our experienced FDCPA attorneys or staff members in order to ascertain whether or not you may be entitled to filing a claim against them in a court of law. Fill out the Free Claim Review form found on this website and a FDCPA Attorney will get back to you soon to discuss your FDCPA claim.
