As you may know, it is a violation of the FDCPA and the Rosenthal FDCPA for a debt collector to simulate being an attorney. In other words, a debt collector who is not an attorney cannot call you and say he is with “Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, attorneys at law.” He cannot write to you on attorney letterhead either.
But, how do you know if he is an attorney? After all, there are 50 states, the District of Columbia, and you don’t have the time or energy to figure out how to locate an attorney. Thankfully, Terry Berger, an attorney in Maryland, put together Is He Really A Lawyer?
Go to the website. Find your state. Click the link. And it will take you to the website to look up an attorney. Not every state is online, but enough are online that you should take a look at this website. In some states, like California, you can even find out if an attorney has been disciplined. This is a great site.