Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) staff letter: Matthews
May 17, 1993 · Section 808(1) [1692f(1)]
Topic: Illegal charges
Staff opinion letters are informal views of FTC staff, not binding Commission rulings, and some were later superseded by statutory amendments (including the 2006 FDCPA amendments) or later guidance.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
May 17, 1993
Carla J. Matthews
Administrative Assistant
CCCS of Central Ohio
697 E. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Dear Ms. Matthews:
Your letter of January 28, 1993 to Mary Jo Vantusko of the Federal Trade Commission in Cleveland has been referred to me for reply. I apologize for the delay.
Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes it an unfair practice to collect "any amount (including any interest, fee, charge or expense . . .) unless such an amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law." The practice of charging the debtor a fee for providing information concerning a debtor's account falls within the ambit of this paragraph. To my knowledge, neither the Commission staff nor the courts have previously addressed this issue directly. However, it would appear that charging such a fee to the debtor would violate Section 808 of the Act.
I hope this has been helpful.
Sincerely,
John F. LeFevre Program Advisor for General Credit
Source: FTC staff letter as archived by the U.S. National Archives web harvest, archived copy. Works of the U.S. government.