With the economy looking like downtown Port-au-Prince and unemployment down to only 9.7 percent it’s boom times for bill collectors. Unfortunately, it’s an easy game to get into and very lucrative to boot, which leads to a lot of bad actors in the space.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the government agency responsible for consumer protections and serves to enforce the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA.)

The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect on overdue bills and it is ignored more than highway speed limits. As a result, the FTC stepping up its enforcement of debt-collection abuses.

This renewed interest in enforcement is prompted by a newly-issued report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO.) The GAO found that the selling of debtor accounts from one collection agency to another makes it increasingly likely that account information won’t be properly transferred and as a result, debt collection outfits will try to collect money from the wrong person or try to collect the wrong amount.

As a first step, the FTC has ordered the nine companies that buy the most second-hand debt to turn over all purchase and sales records for a six-month period in 2009.

The GAO’s report also recommended updating the FDCPA to give consumers access to more information, and to address methods of communication that weren’t technologically possible when the legislation was initially written.

Gerri Detweiler, co-author of “Debt Collection Answers” and who has written four other books on credit and debt said ”The FTC is making it clear that they’re out there to help consumers protect their rights,” But even as federal authorities take a more aggressive stance, consumers who feel they have been mistreated should stand up for themselves, Detweiler said.