New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a bill in the Assembly that would regulate the practices of debt collectors and give authorities the power to issue significant fines for violations.
Dubbed the New Jersey Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the proposed legislation mostly mirrors a 30-year-old federal law that regulates things such as when and where debt collectors can call consumers. But it also goes further, imposing rules on creditors -- not just third-party firms that are hired by creditors or buy debt at a discount.
The bill, introduced last month and now in committee, comes during an economic period in which consumers are having a harder time paying their bills. Perhaps not surprisingly, that has meant some collection agencies are now getting more accounts to work.
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