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Consumer Law > Debt Collection, Garnishment, Repossession
Read information about your legal rights.
There are 13 resources
Consumer Education
Credit Card Catch
(Separate Website)
You might think that as long as you pay your credit card bill on time, your credit card company can’t raise your interest rates without giving you fair warning-guess again. Increasingly common among credit card companies is what’s known as a “universal default” policy. These policies are often hidden in the fine print of your credit card agreement or may be tucked away as a policy update in one of the many flyers or special offers you receive from the company throughout the year.
It's bad enough that credit card companies aren’t usually up front about their universal default policies, but what makes universal default even worse is that it may have nothing to do with your payment history on your credit card account or any of your other debts.
By: Barnes Law Group
Fast Facts on Consumer Rights
(Separate Website)
Quick tips on your rights in certain consumer issues
By: Barnes Law Group
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
(Separate Website)
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) is a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission -- consumer information and consumer advocacy. It was established in 1992 and is based in San Diego, California. It is primarily grant-supported and serves individuals nationwide.
The PRC's goals are to:
Raise consumers' awareness of how technology affects personal privacy.
Empower consumers to take action to control their own personal information by providing practical tips on privacy protection.
Respond to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, intercede on their behalf, and, when appropriate, refer them to the proper organizations for further assistance.
Document the nature of consumers' complaints and questions about privacy in reports, testimony, and speeches and make them available to policy makers, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and the media.
Advocate for consumers' privacy rights in local, state, and federal public policy proceedings, including legislative testimony, regulatory agency hearings, task forces, and study commissions as well as conferences and workshops.
By: The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Consumer Information for Domestic Violence Survivors
(Separate Website)
These two brochures are geared to help survivors of domestic violence with credit and debt issues.
By: Consumer Rights for Domestic Violence Survivors Initiative
Consumer Credit Counseling Service Debt Management Plan
(Separate Website)
Consumer Credit Counseling Service's repayment plan has been designed to help you make the transition to debt-free living a gradual and smooth process. It allows for one monthly deposit for all creditors, provides relief from creditor calls, reduces personal stress, and may lower interest charges on some debts. The repayment plan is in PDF format.
By: Consumer Credit Counseling Service
Conquering Credit Challenges
(Separate Website)
Each of us has the personal responsibility for managing our spending. This handbook was developed to give you basic information on how to obtain and correct information from credit buraus, interpret your credit report, understand the costs of using credit, work with your creditors and become debt-free.
By: Consumer Credit Counseling Service
What You Need to Know about Garnishments and Bankruptcies This brochure provides basic legal information about garnishments and bankruptcies in Georgia.
By: Georgia Legal Services Program®
Basic Debt Collection and Consumer Protection in Georgia
This document describes the law relating to debt collection and basic consumer protection laws, answering the following questions: Why do you need to understand your contract before signing it? How can creditors collect debts? How can consumers protect themselves? The document is an excerpt from An Introduction to Law in Georgia,
Fourth Edition, published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1998 (updated 2004).
By: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Fair Debt Collection
(Separate Website)
If you use credit cards, owe money on a personal loan, or are paying on a home mortgage, you are a "debtor." If you fall behind in repaying your creditors, or an error is made on your accounts, you may be contacted by a "debt collector." You should know that in either situation, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that debt collectors treat you fairly and prohibits certain methods of debt collection. Of course, the law does not erase any legitimate debt you owe. This brochure answers commonly asked questions about your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
By: Federal Trade Commission
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
How to Use the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Letter
Do you have debt collectors calling you all the time at work and at home? You have protection under federal law under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This document explains the law and provides a sample letter for you to use.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
Questions about Family Consumer Debt Problems
This web page helps you understand your rights in connection with creditors.
By: Atlanta Legal Aid Society
The Fair Debt Collection Act
(Separate Website)
How the Fair Debt Collection Act protects the consumer
By: Barnes Law Group
Your Rights Against Debt Collectors
(Separate Website)
This web site describes your basic federal rights in connection with debt collectors.
By: U.S. Federal Trade Commission
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
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Information Not Legal Advice
LegalAid-GA.org provides general information only. This is not legal advice and cannot replace legal advice. You can get legal advice only from a lawyer. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You may lose important legal rights if you do not hire an attorney immediately to advise you. Viewing this web site or sending an e-mail message through this web site does NOT create an attorney-client relationship.
Copyright and Use Notice
This material is copyrighted by the authoring organization or individual. Legal information can change rapidly. Provided links are kept updated, permission is given to link to this material from a nonprofit, court or government website. Website material may be printed, copied and distributed only in its original format for non-commercial, informational purposes. The material may not be altered from its original format. Reproducing the material to promote a commercial purpose is expressly prohibited. Commercial enterprises are expressly forbidden from linking to our material or using our material in other ways. Legal Aid and GLSP are not liable for the distribution of out-of-date material or links. To inquire about appropriate use of this material, please contact 404-524-5811.
Information Not Legal Advice
LegalAid-GA.org provides general information only. This is not legal advice and cannot replace legal advice. You can get legal advice only from a lawyer. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You may lose important legal rights if you do not hire an attorney immediately to advise you. Viewing this web site or sending an e-mail message through this web site does NOT create an attorney-client relationship.
LegalAid-GA is a project of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the Georgia Legal Services Program and the Pro Bono Project of the State Bar of Georgia. This website was produced with funding from the Legal Services Corporation.
(Separate Website)
