No debt collector shall collect or attempt to collect a debt or obtain information concerning a consumer by any fraudulent, deceptive or misleading representation. Such representations include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Communicating with the consumer other than in the name (or unique pseudonym) of the debt collector and the person or business on whose behalf the debt collector is acting or to whom the debt is owed.

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 75-54

  • Consumer: means any natural person who has incurred a debt or alleged debt for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes. See North Carolina General Statutes 75-50
  • Debt: means any obligation owed or due or alleged to be owed or due from a consumer. See North Carolina General Statutes 75-50
  • Debt collector: means any person engaging, directly or indirectly, in debt collection from a consumer except those persons subject to the provisions of Article 70, Chapter 58 of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 75-50
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Location information: means information about a consumer's place of abode, any telephone numbers used by the consumer, and information about the consumer's place of employment. See North Carolina General Statutes 75-50
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3

(2) Failing to disclose in all communications attempting to collect a debt that the purpose of such communication is to collect a debt, unless the communication is made to a third-party pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-53 for the purpose of obtaining location information about the debtor.

(3) Falsely representing that the debt collector has in his possession information or something of value for the consumer.

(4) Falsely representing the character, extent, or amount of a debt against a consumer or of its status in any legal proceeding; falsely representing that the collector is in any way connected with any agency of the federal, State or local government; or falsely representing the creditor’s rights or intentions.

(5) Using or distributing or selling any written communication which simulates or is falsely represented to be a document authorized, issued, or approved by a court, an official, or any other legally constituted or authorized authority, or which creates a false impression about its source.

(6) Falsely representing that an existing obligation of the consumer may be increased by the addition of attorney’s fees, investigation fees, service fees, or any other fees or charges.

(7) Falsely representing the status or true nature of the services rendered by the debt collector or his business.

(8) Communicating with the consumer in violation of the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 62-159.1(a), 153A-277(b1), or 160A-314(b1). (1977, c. 747, s. 4; 2009-302, s. 5; 2015-177, s. 3.)

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