Wisconsin Consumer Act: Debt Collection Practices
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None at this time.
- Bureau of Consumer Affairs
- Customer Service: (800) 452-3328
- Fax: (608) 267-0479
- Bureau of Consumer Affairs
- Department of Financial Institutions
- 4822 Madison Yards Way, North Tower
- PO Box 8041
- Madison WI 53708-8041
General Information
Anyone attempting to collect a debt arising from a consumer credit transaction
in Wisconsin, whether a merchant doing its own debt collecting or a
third-party debt collector, must follow Wisconsin’s debt collection law,
Ch.
427, Wis. Stats. (PDF: external link).
This is an important point because many merchants collecting debt owed
directly to them mistakenly believe that they are exempt from Wisconsin’s
debt collection law because they are not included within the definition
of "debt collector" under the federal Fair
Debt Collections Practices Act (PDF: external link) . The federal law will not be discussed
here, but you may access it at the link provided. Compliance with Wisconsin
law does not ensure compliance with the federal law and vice versa.