Are You Paying a Fee to Make a Payment Online or on the Phone ? It’s Possibly an Illegal Charge

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made a new rule that consumers cannot be charged fees when they are paying a debt they owe such as when they are paying it online or by phone. If you were charged a fee, please contact us to investigate and help you.

Collecting fees is prohibited unless the fee amount is in the consumer’s contract or otherwise permitted by law.

But if there is no law expressly allowing a fee, it is not “permitted by law,” even if no law expressly prohibits it. The bottom line: consumers cannot be charged fees when they are paying a debt they owe.

If you were charged a convenience fee, please contact us to investigate and help you.

The CFPB advisory opinion confirmed that federal law often doesn’t allow debt collectors from charging “pay-to-pay” fees. These charges, usually described by debt collectors as “convenience fees,” are charged to consumers who want to make a payment in a certain way, such as online or by phone.

The fees are not part of the original payment agreement so they are not allowed. But going forward, if companies add that to their contracts, it could be allowed.

The fees are referred to as “junk” fees and violation federal laws relating to fair debt collection practices. This is the section of the law known as the FDCPA.

If you were charged a convenience fee, please contact us to investigate and help you.