No collection agency shall use any fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading representation or means to collect, or attempt to collect, claims or to obtain information concerning a debtor or alleged debtor, including any conduct which is described as follows:
(1) The use of any company name while engaged in the collection of claims other than the true name of the collection agency;
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 443B-18
- Collection agency: includes :
(1) Any person using any name other than the person's own in collecting the person's own claims with the intention of conveying, or which tends to convey the impression that a third party has been employed;
(2) Any person who, in the conduct of the person's business for a fee, regularly repossesses any merchandise or chattels for another; and
(3) Any person who regularly accepts the assignment of claims or money due on accounts or other forms of indebtedness and brings suits upon the assigned claims or money due on accounts or other forms of indebtedness in the person's own name; provided that any suits shall be initiated and prosecuted by an attorney who shall have been appointed by the assignee. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 443B-1
- Communication: means directly or indirectly conveying information regarding a debt to any person by any means. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 443B-1
- Debt: means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money or other forms of payment arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services, which are the subject of the transaction, are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 443B-1
- Debtor: means any person or the person's spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, parent (if the person is a minor), guardian, executor, or administrator obligated or allegedly obligated to pay a debt. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 443B-1
- 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.
provided that this paragraph shall not apply to a formal pleading made in connection with a legal action;
(3) Any false representation that the collection agency has in its possession information or something of value for the debtor or alleged debtor that is made to solicit or discover information about the debtor or alleged debtor;
(4) The failure to disclose clearly the name and full business address of the person to whom the claim has been assigned for collection or to whom the claim is owed at the time of making any demand for money;
(5) Any false representation or implication of the character, extent, or amount of a claim against a debtor or alleged debtor, or of its status in any legal proceeding;
(6) Any false representation or false impression that any collection agency is vouched for, bonded by, affiliated with, or an instrumentality, agent, or official of, this State or any agency of federal, state, or local government;
(7) The use or distribution or sale of 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, authorization, or approval;
(8) Any representation that an existing obligation of the debtor or alleged debtor may be increased by the addition of attorney’s fees, investigation fees, service fees, and any other fees or charges when in fact the fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing obligations; or
(9) Any false representation or false impression about the status or true nature of, or the services rendered by, the collection agency or its business.
