Mini-Miranda Rights

We all know that if we get arrested for a felony, we have the right to remain silent, we have the right to an attorney, and anything we say can be used against us in a court of law. After all, we’ve all watched at least one (or 100) episodes of Law & Order. But what we might not know is that we have to receive a similar warning if we’re contacted by a debt collector. That warning is referred to as the Mini-Miranda, even though it bears no relation to the Supreme Court case that gave us the rights listed above, or to Ernesto Miranda, the defendant in said case.

So what can the Mini-Miranda do for us? Well, if a debt collector calls us, emails us, sends us a letter, or shows up on our doorstep, they have to tell us that they are attempting to collect a debt, and that anything we say to them is going to be used to collect that debt. We don’t want people calling us and pretending to be our great aunt Edna just so they can somehow trick us into paying what we owe.

The Mini-Miranda is part of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, which was introduced back in the ‘70s. The whole point of the act is to protect consumers (even those who owe a lot of money) from harassment and intimidation by debt collection professionals.