Why We Need the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Several lawyers in my firm make their living navigating the intricacies of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.   Many disputes under the Act strike me as angels dancing on the heads of pins.   However, a novel I am reading effectively illustrates the need for this type of legislation.  

I am reading Ready Player One, a novel by Austin author Ernest Cline, about a dystopian version of America in 2044.   In the book, an evil corporation controls most aspects of daily life.   If a poor sap defaults in payment of his debts, the creditor can send their private security men to break down the door and take the debtor into indentured servitude where he must work off his debt as a tech support rep.   Of course, due to late charges, interest and deductions for the cost of room and board, the debtor can never pay off the debt.   Thus, failure to pay debts equates to a life sentence.

While arguing about whether a debt collector overshadowed the Mini-Miranda warning on his collection letter may seem trivial, it is better to fight these battles than to have corporate goons breaking down the door as a collection method.