Does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) apply to property managers?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the "FDCPA") is a federal law that applies to “debt collectors,” while they are attempting to collect a debt. The law is a detailed set of instructions on what constitutes permissible and impermissible collection tactics. Mostly, the FDCPA is a set of prohibitions that restrict how debt collectors collect consumer debts. Most of these restrictions make common sense, but the law does contain specific requirements that are not intuitive and can only be understood by studying the law or through training.
The law does not apply to non-consumer transactions. Nor does the law apply to actions that do not constitute efforts to collect a debt. In an eviction, there is almost always a demand by the landlord for court costs, damages, back rent, attorneys’ fees, etc. So, the FDCPA will apply to most eviction cases. Similarly, the FDCPA will apply to a property manager seeking a debt owed to a homeowners association (an “HOA”). Similarly, a property manager almost always seeks damages, fees, court costs, etc., when initiating a lawsuit or proceeding to enforce a non-monetary obligation owed under the neighborhood covenants. So, the safe bet is for property managers to err in favor of following debt collection rules under the FDCPA when seeking relief from a tenant or homeowner.
There is one case in a Florida court in which the FDCPA was found not to apply to a professional property management company. The attorneys at GRIFFITH LAW GROUP believe that this Florida decision was wrongfully decided and is not good law. Nearly all courts apply the FDCPA to property managers and even the attorneys who represent them. So, clearly, the safe bet is to learn, follow and assume the FDCPA applies whenever you are seeking money of any form from a tenant or homeowner.
To learn how the attorneys at GRIFFITH LAW GROUP help property managers through our FDCPA Compliance Program, please feel free to contact our office.
