Acknowledgment of California Debt Collection
I have looked more closely if I can apply California Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in which case this document would
actually help me as an evidence of wrongful collection practices.
Notwithstanding Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) section 3310 which clearly
established that there was no obligation at the time of demand, in
addition the FDCPA can be applied if:
Under the California FDCPA section 1788.2. (c) The term "debt collector"
means any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, on
behalf of himself or herself or others, engages in debt collection. The
term includes any person who composes and sells, or offers to compose
and sell, forms, letters, and other collection media used or intended to
be used for debt collection, but does not include an attorney or
counselor at law.
I believe that the Bail Bond Agency should qualify as debt collector
Under the California FDCPA section 1788.2. (f) The terms "consumer debt"
and "consumer credit" mean money, property or their equivalent, due or
owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural person by reason of a
consumer credit transaction.
Under the California FDCPA section 1788.2. (e) The term "consumer credit
transaction" means a transaction between a natural person and another
person in which property , services or money is acquired on credit by
that natural person from such other person primarily for personal,
family, or household purposes.
Since I was charged $700 of interest on the Bail Bond Premium and
demand to pay the Bail Bond Premium was made after exoneration of bond
by the court (the Bail Bond Premium = money), therefore Bail Bond
Premium was acquired on credit extended to me by the Bond Agency.
Furthermore, I believe that I could, in addition to the breach of
contract based on UCC 3310, show that the Bail Bond Agency was acting as
"debt collector", collecting "consumer debt" as result of "consumer
credit transaction" and sue pursuant to California FDCPA.
Is my tenable believe correct?
The California FDCPA appears to be patterned after the Federal Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act. While I am not familiar with the California
version, I am fairly certain that the Federal version of the FDCPA does not
apply to the origianl creditor or any persons or entities that are
collecting their own debts owed to them. It only applies to people and
businesses that are in the business of debt collection -- meaning they
either are collecting someone else's debt or they are in the business of
buying debts for the purpose of collecting on them.
So, I do not think that a Bail Bond company that is trying to collect its
own debt is covered by the California or Federal FDCPA. I am not a lawyer,
so I don't know if I am right about this. But I think that's how the FDCPA
works.