Debt Recovery Guidelines

What are the guidelines relating to debt recovery?

There are a number of guidelines which relate to the way that debt recovery agencies can enforce debts in Australia. There are a number of practices which are illegal and some which will create a substantial compliance risk for them if they do these practices and someone complains about them. Although it seems that many debt collection agencies employ unfair harrassing tactics, we are very supportive of this type of regulation because it means that the honest providers are less disadvantaged by the honesty with which they conduct their operations in comparison to the the ones who employ unfair and illegal tactics and for this is reason the good debt collection agencies are often very supportive of these types of initiatives which are imposed by regulators on the industry.

What can’t they do?

In Australia the major bodies regulating the operations of debt collectors is the ACCC and ASIC and the Office of Fair Trading in each state. In the USA, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates the operation of debt collectors at a federal level. There are a number of practices which are commonly outlawed like calling more than 3 times a day, calling at very odd hours, threatening to put you in jail (which is impossible in almost every case), threatening to tell you close family or your employer and get you sacked (in some cases this can be blackmail which is a crime in itself) and calling you at your office when you have told them that you do not want them to contact you there. Other common things which lead to debt recovery harrasment claims are overstating a debt or charging interest where it is not justified or breaching aspects of privacy law.

What do I do if I have been wronged?

You should seek legal advice immediately. However, you may be able to complaint to the police and because a debt collector often needs a licence application to be approved by the local court, you can get the police to object to this application on the basis that they are not a person of good character (which they must be in order to hold a debt collection license).

Debt Collection Letter Resources