When enacting the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) statute, the U.S. Congress made a number of observations regarding abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices that it sought to address in this federal law:

• There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, 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.

• Existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers.

• Means other than misrepresentation or other abusive debt collection practices are available for the effective collection of debts.

• Abusive debt collection practices are carried on to a substantial extent in interstate commerce and through means and instrumentalities of such commerce. Even where abusive debt collection practices are purely intrastate in character, they nevertheless directly affect interstate commerce.

• It is the purpose of the FDCPA to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to ensure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent state action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.

In addition to the FDCPA—which applies in all 50 states—many states have consumer protection laws that prohibit and penalize abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices. These laws are usually located in a state’s statutes.

In Massachusetts, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that applies to the state and aims to eliminate abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices. The FDCPA was enacted by Congress to address the widespread issue of debt collectors using such practices, which have been linked to personal bankruptcies, marital instability, job loss, and invasions of privacy. The law acknowledges that existing measures were insufficient to protect consumers and that debt can be effectively collected without resorting to abusive tactics. The FDCPA also seeks to level the playing field for ethical debt collectors and encourages consistent state action to protect consumers. Massachusetts complements the FDCPA with its own consumer protection laws, which are designed to further prevent abusive debt collection practices within the state. These state laws can be found in the Massachusetts General Laws and may provide additional protections and remedies for consumers beyond those offered by the FDCPA.