Laws About Credit Card Debt in North Carolina

Consumers can get into debt by overusing credit cards.

Residents of all states are provided with a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which protects against abusive, unlawful debt collection practices. FDCPA applies to household, personal and family consumer debt, not business debt. A number of states have laws governing debt collection practices beyond the FDCPA. Aside from the right to sue in order to enforce state law, North Carolina has not made any laws supplementary to the FDCPA.

Harassment

According to the FDCPA, a debt collector is not permitted to harass or abuse any person in order to collect debt. Examples of these acts include, but are not limited to, using profane or offensive language, sending telegrams or placing phone calls without fully identifying himself and the company he represents, and placing calls with intent to harass.

Unreasonable Publication

It is illegal for a debt collector to disclose any information about a consumer's debt in the form of publication or posting of a list of consumers in any other manner than through a legal process.

Deceptive Representation

Debt collectors are not legally allowed to collect debt or obtain information about consumers by any type of fraudulent or deceptive means. If a debt collector fails to mention his possession of information on the consumer, misrepresents the nature of his services as debt collector, or fails to communicate in each collection attempt that the purpose of communication is to collect debt, then deceptive representation has been committed.

References

• Help for Debtors: North Carolina Debt Collection and Consumer Protection Law
• Enacted Legislation: Article 2. Prohibited Acts by Debt Collectors