The Federal Fair Debt Collection Act regulates the behavior of collection agencies, lawyers and others who are collecting debts from consumers. A copy of the Act is posted by the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm). The Act is codified at 15 U.S.C. 1692.
To find cases interpreting the act look in the U.S.C.A., the U.S.C.S. and/or the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter (Sec. 64-701 et seq.).
The Act is discussed extensively in Robert J. Hobbs' Fair Debt Collection (National Consumer Law Center) and Margaret C. Jasper's The Law of Debt Collection (Oceana Publications). The Act is also discussed in the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter (Sec. 64-701 et seq.).
State Law: Many states have their own fair debt collection laws. An excellent, annotated listing of the relevant state laws is published in Appendix L of Robert J. Hobbs' Fair Debt Collection (National Consumer Law Center). A listing of the major state laws is published as Appendix 2 of Margaret C. Jasper's The Law of Debt Collection (Oceana Publications).