Owing a collection agency is stressful enough. Having to share that fact with your loved ones is infinitely worse. Your debt, and whether or not you pay it, is your own business.
In the interests of collecting a debt, however, bill collectors may threaten to call your family members and inform them of your situation. Perhaps the threat comes veiled in kindness as a "let me take care of this for you" option. More than likely it comes as part of a sneering, vicious crusade to frighten you into making a payment – especially if the statute of limitations has already expired on the debt. Either way, its illegal.
Debt Collectors Can't Tell Your Family About Your Debt
A debt collector cannot legally share any details about your debt with your family members. Technically, collection agencies can call your friends and loved ones, but only in an effort to locate you. The company clearly already knows how to get in touch with you if a collection agent threatens to call your family. Ironically, this bars the company from ever legally doing so.
Collection Agency Contact With Family Members
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act expressly states that, in the event a collection agency cannot locate a debtor, the collection agency may contact friends, family and the debtor's employer in an effort to locate him or her. When doing so, however, debt collectors must take the utmost care not to give out any information that would lead the individual to believe that the person they are looking for owes a debt.
The FDCPA goes so far as to bar collection agencies from putting their company name on any written communication with the debtor if the company name reflects the fact that the organization is responsible for collecting unpaid debts. Federal law takes your privacy very seriously...even if the bill collectors don't.
While a bill collector can technically call your family members, it can only do so once unless the company has clear reason to believe that the individual is hiding information. Here's the tricky part: the debt collector can only disclose his place of employment if your loved one insists that he do so in order to provide the information required to locate you. A bill collector cannot disclose the reason for his call.
Telling Your Family About Your Debt is Illegal
Let's face it, when you're already knee deep in debt, the last thing you need is your parents giving you a lecture as if you were an irresponsible teenager. And do you really want your sister having that information to hold over your head or disclose to everyone you know when she has a bit too much to drink next Christmas? No.
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| You don't need a lecture about debt and responsibility. |
So when a debt collector threatens to call your family and tell them about your debt, even if that threat is disguised as a kind offer, be sure to inform the collector that doing so would be against federal law and you have every intention of exercising your right to legal recourse.
It's Illegal for Debt Collectors to Threaten to Call Your Family
If you really want to play hardball, try this on for size: Not only is it illegal to actually call your family members and tell them about your debt, its also illegal for a bill collector to threaten to do so. Debt collectors can only threaten to take action that they actually have the legal right to take. Since they don't have the legal right to tell your family anything about you or your debt, they can't legally threaten to make the call.
So if you're really feeling froggy and a frustrated collection agent threatens to give Mom and Dad a call, skip down to your local courthouse the next morning and start filing the paperwork for an FDCPA lawsuit. You have that right.
Thanks for this helpful information. I just found out today from my son (who lives with my ex-husband) that he received a phone call today from a collection agency saying that they were trying to reach me about writing a bad check. I am so upset and want to do something about this illegal act against me. Please let me know if I have a legal right. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your helpful information. I just found out today that my ex-husband received a phone call from a collection agency asking for me by name. They said that they are trying to locate me for writing a bad check. I am so upset that they would even share this information with anyone in my family, let alone my ex. What can I do to report this illegal abuse from this company? Thanks
ReplyDeleteYou can sue them for violating the FDCPA and you can report the behavior to the FTC, but keep in mind that the FTC does not handle individual cases. They just keep track of complaints. If the company participates in a certain illegal behavior too often, they fine them.
ReplyDeleteI'd send the company a Cease and Desist letter and a threat to sue for an FDCPA violation. Its even better if your ex or your son got the name of the collector. Keep in mind that the SoL must have passed to safely send a C&D. Hope this helps.
Do you have contact info? I want to submit to your attention a debt collector that is using Fraud lawsuits to force debtors into settlements.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteQuestion then on what would constitute a violation here. Someone called me about a "case file" they had on me at their desk. They wanted me to give them my social security number to verify I was this person, which of course I then said no. We had a tug of war on it and of course got nowhere. I suggested since they send it by mail, signature required if they thought it was so important.
ReplyDeleteA few days later, the same company started calling odd members of my family like my new daugher-in-law and HER mother in addition to my own mother, but not my husband or my children.
Each time they would say they had a serious case on me that I needed to respond to and would give them the "case #", and their telephone number.
Since they'd already talked to me, is this not a violation to call "friends and family"? Can they keep calling them or is more than one call a violation?
There are a couple of major violations there. First, you're right, the collection agency cannot legally contact your family members if it knows your telephone number/address. They can only contact family members to find your location. They cannot contact your family members in an effort to uncover additional information about you, such as your SSN.
ReplyDeleteI see a second violation as well. Whenever a debt collector contacts a debtor's family members, federal law requires the collector to state his name and state that he is calling ONLY for information that would help him locate you. Failing to do so is a second violation of the FDCPA. If the collector identified himself as a debt collector or provided your family members with the name of the collection agency without being explicitly asked for that information that constitutes a third violation.
If I were you, I'd get typed and notarized statements from each family member the debt collector called. The statements should note the date and time of the call and exactly what was said on both sides of the conversation. You have a pretty good lawsuit case as it is if that's something you might be interested in doing. Personally, I say wait it out and let them commit more violations so that when you do so, there will be no doubt as to the illegality of the company's actions.
Keep an eye on your credit report. That's why the collection agency wants your SSN so badly. They want to report the account to the credit bureaus.
If you want to read federal law on this yourself, check out section 804 and 805 of the FDCPA.
They already have your SSN, dob, driver's license #, if you have property in your name, they even have your family members ss#....They uses a program called Accurint to get the info....It updates when you filed your income taxes, fill out an application for employement,and etc....They uses several programs to get info about you, your family members, and etc....Accurint, LexNex is two of the biggest programs that is used to obtain this information..So they really dont need your permission to get your social bc i work for a collection agency and i know i can get your driver license info, your car registation info, your car plate #, your bankru info ( if you filed chapter 7 or 13, I can pull your credit file, i can know your credit score, i can pretty much get any info i want.....so just keep in mind when they call you they already know your life story better than you.....
DeleteI lost my job several months ago and am currently not even able to meet my base living needs (food, water, etc). Im living with a friend or otherwise Id be on the street. I had been making payments for a debt, but after losing my income I am not in a position to pay anything right now. As hard as it is to deal with, let alone tell a stranger, I felt I should explain the situation to the collector as a reason for not making payments. I didn't genuinely expect them to care, but the last thing I expected was for the collector to begin hunting me down through family and friends. They know how to reach me and I've explained my financial situation, but are killing me with all these calls to me, my mother, & others. If I could pay I would, but right now I just can't. Do I have any legal options to stop this, from what I've read it seems like a clear breach of the law.
ReplyDeleteCollectors can only call your family and friends when they don't know where you are. If a collector knows how to reach you, they cannot call anyone else and they absolutely under no circumstances cannot discuss your debt with any third party other than your attorney.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is a clear breach of the law here. If you can't pay it, you can't pay it. Simple as that. You can always send a C&D letter telling the collection agency it cannot call you anymore. You can also log these calls, get notarized statements of the calls from your loved ones and sue the company. If you have no job and own no property, the company isn't likely to sue you since it cannot collect. If I knew which company it was I might be able to provide more assistance.
I received a telephone call this morning on my personal cell phone inquiring about someone who used to work with me. I traced the telephone numbers and discovered it was GMAC Financing. When they began asking for information about my associate, I refused to answer any question sunless they told me who the were and explained why they were calling. I informed them that they were calling the private cell phone of this individual's associate. They ended the call pretty quickly after that. However, I cannot imagine that they used any legal means to get my private contact info. Is there any point to reporting this incident as a complain to the FTC? i will be upset if I get stuck with cell phone fees from these garbage calls.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is a point to reporting them to the FTC. If the FTC receives enough complaints, they WILL conduct an investigation into the company's policies. Plus, you can inform the company if they call again that you have already filed a formal complaint with the FTC.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already done so, you need to tell your co-worker about the call. GMAC broke the law by refusing to identify themselves. If they told you up-front that they were calling about a debt your associate owed that is also against the law. If they will break the law in these ways they will break the law in others as well. Inform you associate so he can be prepared to fire back a lawsuit at GMAC as soon as they start contacting him and violating his rights.
If GMAC contacts you again, let them know that it is not convenient for you to take calls from debt collectors and that you are invoking your right to privacy under the FDCPA. They shouldn't call again after that.
my ex husband recieved a debt letter at his house in my name,which doesn`t make any sense as i have never lived at his house - this doesn`t say the amount owing or to whom but this letter has caused alot of grief between us
ReplyDeletehad a collection agency call several of my neighbors, seems they got as many phone numbers on my block as they could and just started calling.
ReplyDeleteMy ex husband has been sending emails to both me and my husband stating that some collection agencies have been contacting him and he is stating specific amounts and has a lot of informaiton that he claims that they have given him freely on the phone. It sounds as if he is given a lot of specific and personal information, is this legal?
ReplyDeleteNo they can't tell them about your account details, but they can say Hello I'm Bill with debt collection company. We are trying to reach mr.X about an important financial matter"
ReplyDeleteEva, a debt collector cannot give your ex-husband (or your current one, for that matter) detailed information about you or a debt you owe. Unless the debt collection agency was itself defrauded by your ex, the collector is the one in the wrong. No, it isn't legal.
ReplyDeleteAnd Anonymous, a debt collector can state the name of the company to a third party, but only if the company name does not denote that the company is a collection agency. If the company name clearly betrays the caller's identity as a debt collector, naming the company is not legal.
I received 3 voicemail messages from a guy from Barrett Smith & Associates this week saying that he had a sealed document with my name and SSN on it about a claim that was being filed against me and that he would be bringing it to my house or place of employment to have me sign for it. He never actually showed up but he did call my mother and tell her that there was a claim pending against me.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and dad both received calls from someone named Edward claiming he was BG Associates about a debt. They gave my dad my last 4, and two amounts of two supposed debts they say I owe. I googled the phone number, and the name of the company they gave with that number came up with multiple other company names as well. I refuse to contact these people, and I informed my father and sister to tell them to stop calling and that they are in violation. This sounds like a scam or something to me but not sure. I tried to google the name of the so called debt collector, supposedly out of New York and have found no known company by that name. I guess my question is how can one file a complaint if your not sure who you are supposed to file against if there are multiple "agencies" associated with that phone number and no address to be found.
ReplyDeleteTelling them to stop calling isn't going to do anything. You're going to have to put that request in writing via a Cease and Desist letter. The next time the company calls, ask for the name of the company. Don't let the collector weasel out of it. If you ask for the name of the company, they have to tell you.
ReplyDeleteInclude in your C&D letter that the company is in violation of the FDCPA by discussing personal details of your account with a third party.
Whlie you can file a complaint with the FTC, keep in mind that the FTC isn't actually going to do anything about your case in particular. They merely collect data on collection agencies to investigate behavior that gets reported the most often and levy fines.
My husband is part of a class action lawsuit re: a student loan for a school that closed. We have informed the lender over and over that he has an attorney and have given them his contact information. We have continued to get phone calls and letters from the lender directly. Today I received a call from a third party debt collector. He asked if I was the wife of so & so and when I said yes, he told me the amount of the debt among other things. I explained that the lender is aware that my husband has an attorney and that he needs to contact his attorney. I kept a paper record for about two weeks earlier this year when we were receiving phone calls from them and noted each time I told them to contact my husband's attorney. I got tired of keeping a record, as they called daily, and multiple times a day, and stopped keeping track. I still have the paper record. Has the lender broken the law by continuing to contact us even though they have been informed to communicate directly with my husband's attorney? Have they broken the law by having a third party contact us even though they have been informed? Did the third party brake the law by disclosing the debt details to me, even though I am not a party to the debt? What should/can we do about it?
ReplyDeleteSection 805 (a) of The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lists the circumstances under which a third-party debt collector cannot communicate with a debtor. Subheading (2) of this section states the following:
ReplyDelete"...if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney’s name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond within
a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer.."
So yes, unless your attorney consented to the debt collector contacting you, the collector is in direct violation of the FDCPA. The collector also cannot discuss your husband's debt with you. Sounds like its time to get a new attorney. Any halfway competent attorney should be able to slam dunk this one since these are blatant violations.
Sounds like its time to find yourself a new attorney. If you were my client, I'd be all over this. The fact that your attorney isn't handling the problem is a red flag.
I received a phone call today asking me if I could have my adult son call them. They willingly told me it was his apartment building calling because he hasn't paid this month's rent and he won't answer his phone and they need to talk to him about the rent because it is 15 days late now. I asked the lady to not call me again and she told me she would if she needs to because I am listed as a reference. I told her I was requesting she not call again and would be filing harassment charges against her if she calls me again. She told me it's not harassment because I am listed as a reference and she can call me whenever she likes! The nerve of this lady! My son is 21 years old, I am not responsible for his bills! I'm assuming she was not allowed to tell me that she is trying to collect his rent?? Does he have a case? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the FDCPA only applies to third-party debt collectors. Many states have adopted this law to cover original creditors as well, but without knowing which state you live in, I have no way of knowing if he has a case or not. If your state does not have the FDCPA adopted for original creditors, there is no law that restricts what information your son's landlady can and cannot give out to other people. The next time she calls, just hang up the phone as soon as she identifies herself. She'll eventually get tired of being hung up on. Better yet, block the telephone number she's calling from. Sooner or later she'll get the picture.
ReplyDeleteLee are you an attorney? I am assuming so as it appears so in your above comments. I have information regarding a collections agency in the Atlanta area and I would like to know what action I can take against them. If you are interested please email me at made.new911@yahoo.com. Thanks!
DeleteNo, I am not an attorney. Please see my disclaimer regarding this in the right sidebar of this blog. It should appear on every page. If I've given you that impression, I apologize. That was never my intent.
DeleteLegally, me telling you, "That's against the law!" is no different than your neighbor, cousin or random forum member saying the same. Except for the fact that, when pressed, I can usually present you with the statute supporting my position.
We live in Ohio
ReplyDeleteWe get calls for my husband's cousin, and most recently, my MIL. I get really annoyed at them calling to find out any information, I refuse to give them any, as I'm not obligated to do so. I feel that this is strictly business between the agency or company and them, and am frustrated at receiving such calls. Do I have any rights to stop them from calling me? I reside in California. Please help.
ReplyDeleteThe look out for a good debt recovery company should be expert in the domain.The commercial and dues of a company are inter-related and collection agency with low experience should be avoided.
ReplyDeleteWhen sending letters and making calls do not help, debt collection needs something professional.That is where relevance of a good collections agency which helps the feasible debt recovery and get the due on time.
ReplyDeleteSimilar problem here. An outfit called FRG has somehow found a work cellphone number for me AND my a personal cell phone for my daughter, who is a way at college. She says the call is telling her it's about one of my bills. I cannot believe they can get a way with this.
ReplyDeleteI rent a room from my parents but their land line does not belong to me. I have a separate phone number that I use which is my cell phone. I don't receive or use their phone for any reason.
ReplyDeleteI am going through a financial hardship and now the debt collectors are calling my parent's number. I know that debt collectors can only contact family members to find out my location and only contact them once, but does this law applies if I am living in the same house as them?
I have been receiving phone calls about a debt my sister owes. I finally called them back to get their addres to send them a Cease and Desist letter. They never asked if I could get in contact with my sister instead they told me that my sister took out a payday loan and never paid it back. I asked them for their address and name. Rowling & Miller 541 10th Street NW Atlanta GA. I googled it and behold it is a person's address. Rowling & Miller shows nothing on the internet. I called them back to get the correct address and was told at that time that I would be held financially responsible for my sister's debt and a person would be at my house with the a summons for court. I know this to be a lie as I implied to them and told them I would contact my lawyer to be waiting for the summoner, they promptly hung up without giving me the correct address. I called again to speak to a supervisor. A Mrs. Roberts got on the phone was a supervisor and informed me that they have my ss# even though I am a reference. I asked her to give me the number. NOW THE REALLY SCARY PART. she did and it was the correct number. My credit is excellent and I am really scared some immoral people have my SS#. WHAT DO I DO NOW?????
ReplyDeleteI want to know whether green tree has the right to call my elderly mother in a different telling her that they need to get in touch with me because i am about to lose my house. They have also called my sister in law with this same information. I pay monthly payments but was late for the upcoming month. Is this legal.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I have one question. I have not used my married name in over 10 years, and filed for bankruptcy over 10 years ago as well under that name. A debt collector called a relative looking for me with debt under that name (also the name does not appear on any credit report). I am thinking identity fraud but do not understand why they would be contacting a relative in a different state.
ReplyDeleteQuestion- I provide health ins and am the primary for my son. I never knew of a debt until my ex called me. I took my son to the hospital, owed(unknowingly) $75, they sent it to collections who called my ex and told them what and how much the debt was. Anything I can do or is that legal as it is her son also.
ReplyDeleteCan a collector talk to my ex if the hospital bill is for my son but in my name? They called and gave her all the info
ReplyDeleteIf you've been making payments on a bill but its not as much money as the place wants, can they still legally take you to collections?
ReplyDeleteIf you owe money, say $3,000; they want $100 a month but you can afford to pay $50 and have been paying $50. Can they still legally take you to collections even though you've been making payments?
ReplyDeleteI bought a car for my daughters graduation and 18th birthday. I set it up in her name and cosigned inorder to help her establish credit, but I make all the payments. I have never been late and everything has been fine. It has bveen 2 years. THe bank called me and told me they were going to reposess the car because my daughter had taken out a separate loan (on her own) and she was defaulting so they were going ot take the car tht I was paying on. I told them they cant do that because i didnt authorize ot sign nor was I even aware of a personal loan my daughter had with them. The car payments are current and have never been late. Am I right?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am concerned that they called and disclosed all the details to me about my daughters personal loan. She is an adult and I dont think they had the right to disclose to me about her...doesnt she have some right to privacy?
Any suggestions on what recourse we can take would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
I'm afraid I need more details on this to answer your question. When you say she took out a personal loan, are you saying she took out another loan with a separate bank using the car that is not yet paid off as collateral or are you saying that she took out a second loan from the same bank by pulling the existing equity out of her car and using it as collateral? I can't answer your question thoroughly until I know the whole story of the loan.
ReplyDeletehi i had a collector have a second party call my mother inlaw told them that they are filing charges against me for fruad ( for a breach in contract with creditone bank. told them alot of other info to get my phone # etc. Can i so any thing about that?
ReplyDeleteIf the person who called your mother-in-law was a debt collector who purchased the debt or who collects on a commission then yes you can do something. You can sue. The FDCPA does NOT allow third-party collectors to disclose information like that to your family members in order to get information about you. They can call to locate you, but they can't share your personal details with others.
DeleteMy brother, who lives in another state called in a panic because he was contacted by a company (American Locating Service) searching for me. He was told that if I didn't contact them within two hours the sheriff's department would serve me. They gave him a phone number and a case number.
ReplyDeleteAbout an hour later they also called me, and I was just given a case number and another office to contact. The number is for J&E Financial Services and they stated that they needed to serve me court papers.
I wanted to know if it's legal to scare people by telling people that the sheriff is looking for them. I can not find any information on J&E and she did not want to say that they are a debt collection agency.
That one's iffy since they're clearly abiding by the FDCPA in the sense that the woman didn't want to disclose that she was calling on behalf of a collection agency. You'd think that if they'd adhere to the FDCPA is one respect, they'd adhere to it in others as well. Telling your brother that a sheriff was going to serve you, however, practically screams "Your sister owes a debt!" and, as such, would be a violation. Talk to a licensed attorney in your area to discuss your options. You may have grounds for a lawsuit.
DeleteSomeone just called my son's cell (he's 15) from a 630 area code they told him a case had been filed against me in Dekalb county GA and it was very important I call them...
ReplyDeleteI know that they have my cell # because that number showed as a missed call earlier today and they also called my husband's line...
My question is one can they do that, who do I contact if it's illegal and three how did they get a 14 year Olds number?
Technically they can call your son, but they can't tell him anything about your debt. Telling him that a case has been filed against you is a violation of the FDCPA. Consider meeting with an attorney to discuss your options. Sometimes, if you file your own lawsuit against a CA, they decide you're more trouble than you're worth and leave you alone.
DeleteAgainst the law for them to call cell phones unless you authorized that as a contact number. Even if you did at one time, saying you revoke that authorization is good enough. I'm sure you never authorized them to call your underaged son's cell phone. See TCPA Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
DeleteIt doesn’t have to be harassing. Any call they make is against the law. It can be civil and friendly and even helpful, but if it's to your cell phone and you didn’t give express written consent for them to call that cell phone they are liable end of story and secondly it doesn’t even have to be a debt collector. It can be the creditor that you owed the money to, to begin with.
http://lesterlaw.com/helpful-information/debt-collectors-calling-your-cell-tcpa/
The TCPA only restricts calls made using an autodialer. If the debt collector doesn't use an autodialer (and some don't) these calls don't violate the TCPA. The express written consent only applies in cases where a company uses an autodialer but the consumer has given their consent to be contacted on their cell phone by the company in question.
DeleteI need some advice!!
ReplyDeleteMy fiance's mother received a call today from a collection agency dealing with my BROTHER'S school he use to go to. The army pays all of his student loans. He does not take care of any of the payments regarding his school. Anyways, my fiance's mother calls me letting me know that a woman named Angela Posten had called her asking for my brother saying she needed to speak with him immediately. Mind you, my fiance's mother lives in TX and has never met my brother a day in her life. My brother lives in FL. She then started saying "oh you dont know him? Do u know his sister?" And gave her my date of birth!! Then when I got her contact information and called her today she was extremely rude and when I was asking her why she would call my fiance's mother and father she yelled "if you would HUSH and let me speak"... she told me my date of birth is public information and she did nothing wrong.. I am so angry right now! Can anyone give me any advice?
I answered this question below.
DeleteHelp! I need some advice!
ReplyDeleteI received a phone call from my fiance's mother telling me a woman named Angela Posten had called her today regarding a debt with my older brother. Mind you, me and my fiance are obviously not even married yet. My brother has never met my fiance's mother. She lives in Texas and we live in Florida. She called her asking if she knew my brother and said "well do you know his sister "and gave her my date of birth right off the bat! She told her yes she knew me and the woman Angela Posten claimed she needed to speak with my brother immediately. My fiance's mother said she does not know my brother and has never met him. When she called me I immediately hung up and called Angela asking her why she would call my fiance's mother looking for him. She spoke over me almost the entire time and also said "if you would hush your mouth and let me speak" also told me that my date of birth is public record and she did nothing wrong. Very rude the whole time! I want to know if I could go about filing a lawsuit on this company for giving my personal information out to my future in laws. How does she know what type of relationship I have with them? I am disgusted how rude this lady was. Please someone answer me back.
If this individual told your fiance's mother that she was calling to collect a debt THAT would be a violation of the FDCPA. If there are any grounds for an FDCPA violation, they are your brother's grounds, not yours. As angry as you are at this woman, you aren't the debtor and you don't receive the same FDCPA protections. In otherwords, there's nothing you can really do about her giving your birth date to your mother in law. Of course, the reason she stated, that your birth date was public information, isn't the correct reason. It's just that you're not the debtor. If she gave you or your mother-in-law, both of whom are a third party, information about your brother and his debt, he would have the right to consult with an attorney regarding a lawsuit for a violation of the FDCPA.
DeleteRent to own company keeps calling family and telling them they are going to sue me and how much i owe i have ask thwm to stop and told them when i could pay but they keep calling is that legal
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, yes. The rent to own company is the original creditor and, as such, they aren't bound by the FDCPA.
DeleteI wrote a check to an individual person , not a business and it didn't clear because of a mistake I made. As soon as I realized this looking at my online banking I called the person, explained what happened and paid them in cash for the mistake and asked them to find out if their bank charged them so I could pay that also. The day after I paid them in cash they called my place of employment and told them about this check matter. Are they allowed to do this?
ReplyDeleteThe FCRA and FDCPA do not apply to private individuals. Unfortunately, yes, they can do whatever they want in this situation. If the check was for a personal matter, my guess would be that your boss thought nothing of it. If it was a work-related matter, explain what happened to your boss. It was an honest mistake and you took care of it. Turn your error into something positive by demonstrating that you were smart enough to catch the mistake and responsible enough to fix it before it became an issue.
DeleteI had a collection agency contact my stepdads family whom ive nevwr gave this collection agaency any information on them. they told my grandparents they were going to have them supeonaed for court and they have my number they say they are an attorneys office is thia legal for them.to tell my grandparents they are going to have them supeoned bc of a debt.of mine?
ReplyDeleteI had a collection agaency claiming they were an attorneys offixe and telling my.grandparents whom.ive nvr disclosed any information.about my grandparents to this agency sayimg the were going to give thema summons or supwona due to a debt i owe can they legLly do thia
ReplyDeleteA debt collector called my parents and told them that I defaulted on a payday loan. I could sue the company but I just dont have the time. I guess thats what they count on...that suing would be just too much work for most people.
ReplyDeleteQUESTION... I am delinquent on quite a few credit card accounts... I've been trying to keep up with the payments, but it has just gotten out of control. To the extent of over $50,000. I have one card that has contacted my mom, dad, sister and close friend. This is a jewelry store credit card that I made purchases on and never made a payment. I'm thinking of filing for bankruptcy... seeing as my only income right now is Social Security Disability. I have tried to keep current, but I just can't stay afloat any longer.
ReplyDeleteThis required a more in-depth answer than I can provide in the comments. Please copy and paste the link below into your browser.
Deletehttp://collectionagencydebt.blogspot.com/2014/05/q-should-i-file-bankruptcy-over-credit.html
According to Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collection agency has no right to call your family for your debt recovery. If you found some debt collector doing this then you can complain to the attorney.
ReplyDeleteThey do have the right if they are doing so in an effort to locate the debtor. See Section 804: Acquisition of Location Information.
DeleteI agree to you Lee but I said for debt recovery not locating the debtor.
DeleteLocating the debtor is a crucial part of the debt recovery process, but I see your meaning.
DeleteI had a collection agency call my home in Florida (I'm on there 7 months out of the year) looking for my sister. How did they get my telephone # when my sister and I have different last names?
ReplyDeleteCredit card applications usually request information about your next of kin and their phone numbers. This isn't for emergency purposes--its to give the collector a starting point if the person defaults on their debt. Your sister probably listed you as her next of kin and that provided the credit card company (and then the collection agency) with your phone number.
Delete