How scary can it get?

VA does not appear to have any laws governing debt collection, save for the criminal statute of serving bogus court documents.

Review the fdcpa. It covers debt collectors, attorneys that function as debt collectors, and debt buyers. In a few rare circumstances, it may cover the original creditor as well.

So with no laws governing collection in VA, is that bad for me? I appoligize for not knowing, but what is the fdcpa?

So with no laws governing collection in VA, is that bad for me? I appoligize for not knowing, but what is the fdcpa?

fdcpa is the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

Here is the link that will tell you all about it.
It's the rules that debt collectors must follow they they are collecting on a debt.