Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) staff letter: Charest
Sept. 13, 1996 · Section 804 [1692b]
Topic: Acquiring location information
Staff opinion letters are informal views of FTC staff, not binding Commission rulings, and some were later superseded by statutory amendments (including the 2006 FDCPA amendments) or later guidance. Check current law before relying on any letter.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580
Division of Credit Practices Bureau of Consumer Protection
September 13, 1996
Darren Charest
President
U.S. Tracers
14252 Culver Drive
Suite A268
Irvine, CA 92714
Dear Mr. Charest:
This is in reply to your recent letter concerning your "messaging and call transfer system" described therein. I hereby incorporate it by reference in this answer.
Third party contacts for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer (e.g., the consumer's telephone number) are governed exclusively by Section 804 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (copy enclosed). You will note that Section 804(1) of the FDCPA requires the debt collector to "identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer." It does not appear that the message quoted in your letter complies with this requirement, since it does not mention that its purpose is to confirm or correct location information concerning the consumer. Therefore, a collection agency using this message would violate Section 804 of the FDCPA.
I hope this has been helpful.
Sincerely,
John F. LeFevre Attorney
Source: FTC staff letter as archived by the U.S. National Archives web harvest, archived copy. Works of the U.S. government.