Debt collection is the process by which a person or entity who is owed money or property seeks payment for the debt. Debt collection may be performed by the person or entity who is owed the debt (the creditor), or may be performed by a third-party debt collector hired by the creditor to collect the debt on behalf of the creditor. Sometimes creditors sell the debt to another entity at a discounted value, and the entity that purchases the debt becomes the creditor.

Debts that are often the subject of debt collection efforts include (1) credit card debt; (2) car or auto loan debt; (3) medical debt; (4) student loan debt; (5) unpaid utility and telephone bills; and (6) personal loan debt.

If you owe money, you have a legal obligation to repay it. But state and federal laws—such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act—prohibit debt collectors from using deceptive or abusive tactics to collect the debt.

In Wyoming, debt collection is regulated by both state statutes and federal law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that sets the standard for how debt collectors can operate, prohibiting deceptive, abusive, or unfair practices. Under the FDCPA, collectors are restricted in their methods of communication, prohibited from harassing or threatening debtors, and are required to validate the debt upon request. Wyoming does not have a specific state statute that extensively regulates debt collection practices beyond the federal FDCPA, but it does have laws that govern the statute of limitations on debt, which dictate how long a creditor has to take legal action to collect a debt. For example, the statute of limitations for credit card debt and other written contracts is typically 10 years, while oral contracts and open accounts have a limitation of 8 years. Once a debt is sold to a third-party collector or a debt buyer, the new creditor has the same legal rights to collect the debt as the original creditor. It's important for consumers in Wyoming to understand their rights under the FDCPA and to be aware of the state's statute of limitations on various types of debt.