Creditors harrassing my relatives (!)

[IBKevin]

I recently have begun the Chapter 7 process. One of my creditors (a credit union) has now sent threatening letters to my mother, sister, and brother. In these letters, the credit union demands that *they* attempt to resolve my debt. They even went as far as to include my account numbers!!!

I believe this is wrong in so many ways. My question is this: do they even have a legal right to do this? I've never seen or heard of this happening before.......

[shygal]

IBKevin, I couldn't agree with you more ! It is very wrong and I had the same thing happen to me! But the creditor called my next door neighbor Believe me that was humiliating.I called the creditor and got upset with them and questioned why they would do that and they VERY polietly said that they have the right to do that! So I checked into it further and I guess they can call a third party about a debt you owe as long as they do not say what the call is about or give an account number or balance due. That sucks !!

[tinroofrusted]

That is illegal for them to do that. I called my bank on that once when they called my mother about a credit card.

They absolutely can NOT do this. That is a privacy issue, and it is ILLEGAL.

[HRx]

Did you list these individuals as "referrences" on your credit applications? Because if you did, you also signed a consent to allow the creditors to contact the individuals listed to help them collect payment on outstanding debts.

[vic6string]

To the best of my knowledge this is not a legal practice unless the people they are calling are co-signers on that particular debt. If you are dealing with an attorney I would find this out first, and if that is the case I would call and threaten legal action. There is also a site called ripoffreport that I would go to if I were you where you can post this situation. This is a pretty popular site, and having this story posted could hit them where it hurts: in losing potential customers.

[tinroofrusted]

I found these links

http://www.antitelemarketer.com/php/modules.php?name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=2&categories=Bill+collectors#10

Can a bill collector call my friends or family in trying to collect the debt?
No. Unless you give permission to the bill collector to call them.

http://fair-debt-collection.com/searches/stop-collection-calls.html

Calling 3rd parties such as family, friends, employers, employees and neighbors is strictly prohibited when collectors already have your phone number!

http://www.truebloodlawfirm.com/consumer_protection/debtcollectors.html

Contacts with work, family and friends

Debt collectors are prohibited from most contacts with people other than you. When contacting others, the debt collector may not state that you owe a debt, or say anything disparaging about you.

Home and friends: Except for your spouse, debt collectors generally may contact family or friends only to obtain your current "location information," which is defined as your home address, work address, and home phone number.

Work: Under California law, a debt collector or creditor may make only one phone call to your work, and only for the purpose of verifying employment. Any other communications must be made in writing, and are limited to requesting location information. Only if your employer fails to respond to a letter could the debt collector call again.

[tinroofrusted]

I also saw this:
IMPORTANT NOTE! Let me emphasize that section 805(b)2. specifically says, "debt collectors may not call third parties under the pretense of gaining information already in his possession." Thus, calling your family, friends, neighbors, employees and employer and so forth, after they already have your phone number, is a serious violation of the FDCPA and should be reported to your State Attorney General immediately.

http://fair-debt-collection.com/searches/stop-collection-calls.html

[IBKevin]

This is some great information everyone. None of the individuals that were sent the letter were cosigners. Every letter also cleary shows my account number, which most certainly is private information. I've got a call into my attorney on this already, I'll let you know what I find out. ;)

[teddybeardj]

Did you list these individuals as "referrences" on your credit applications? Because if you did, you also signed a consent to allow the creditors to contact the individuals listed to help them collect payment on outstanding debts.

What?
What sence does that make? I actually had Ford Motor Credit call me about my brothers account. They wanted information on him. I told them to not call me anymore about someone elses account. I then started to get calls at work about his account. It was beginning to affect my job. I then asked to talk to a manager and one came on and said what you said, he used me as a reference. I didn't sign anything that said he can use me as a reference, and even if he does, so what? I didn't co-sign for the loan, why do I have to be harassed because he used my name as a reference???

[HRx]

What?
What sence does that make? I actually had Ford Motor Credit call me about my brothers account. They wanted information on him. I told them to not call me anymore about someone elses account. I then started to get calls at work about his account. It was beginning to affect my job. I then asked to talk to a manager and one came on and said what you said, he used me as a reference. I didn't sign anything that said he can use me as a reference, and even if he does, so what? I didn't co-sign for the loan, why do I have to be harassed because he used my name as a reference???

Interesting isn't it!?

[davids]

creditors

I recently have begun the Chapter 7 process. One of my creditors (a credit union) has now sent threatening letters to my mother, sister, and brother. In these letters, the credit union demands that *they* attempt to resolve my debt. They even went as far as to include my account numbers!!!

I believe this is wrong in so many ways. My question is this: do they even have a legal right to do this? I've never seen or heard of this happening before.......

I had this happen to me in my 20's, i ran up a $4,000 in debt. the evil
creditors had my mom thinking that they or I would be going to jail, nevertheless, mother caved in, and paid them $2,000 to settle, surely
it pissed me off, it was in my name, I could have used that $2,000

and just days ago, credtiors called my wifes mother asking for private
information regarding her account, where is she, whats her phone number, where is she working, etc, etc.. weather it is illegal or not, they are doing it.

[ChristinaAthens]

I had this happen to me in my 20's, i ran up a $4,000 in debt. the evil
creditors had my mom thinking that they or I would be going to jail, nevertheless, mother caved in, and paid them $2,000 to settle, surely
it pissed me off, it was in my name, I could have used that $2,000

and just days ago, credtiors called my wifes mother asking for private
information regarding her account, where is she, whats her phone number, where is she working, etc, etc.. weather it is illegal or not, they are doing it.

I know that a debt collector can contact a third party to obtain 'your' whereabouts but cannot disclose why they are calling. If you request that the creditor not contact you again.
If your mother received a call asking for personal information, the caller could be trying to dupe your mom into giving up her info for some criminal purpose.

[ducksinarow]

Good to know this is not legal. They've been calling my disabled father in law and hounding him for my debts!!

[Lightning]

I had this happen to me in my 20's, i ran up a $4,000 in debt. the evil creditors had my mom thinking that they or I would be going to jail, nevertheless, mother caved in, and paid them $2,000 to settle, surely
it pissed me off, it was in my name, I could have used that $2,000

That doesn't sound nice. You wanted to keep the $4,000 you borrowed from creditors, and you also wanted $2,000 from your mom without repaying anything? What the creditor did was wrong, but thinking you're entitled to your mother's money is also wrong.

Creditors are not evil. They want the money back that you borrowed and agreed to repay. How can that be evil?

[FloridaGirl]

Um, Lightning, I'm beginning to think you were actually struck by lightning at some point in your life. Do you scan every post in hopes of finding something to pick apart?

How can you say that creditors are not evil? Any company who allows a collector to harass a man's mother and scare her into paying her son's debt is pure evil. Any company who allows a collector to harass a person's friends and family is evil. Yes, I know they are entitled to get their money back, but that shouldn't give them permission to use any means necessary. Involving people who have nothing to do with a person's financial affairs is just plain cut-throat. Before I filed for BK I had a collector calling my mother. She had absolutely nothing to do with my debt and the only reason they even got a hold of her was because I lived there for a while and they got the number somehow. After I moved out, this collector still called and harassed my mom beyond belief. One day she just told him to stop calling and he went so far as to call her a piece of shit. Now, what did my mom do to deserve that? Not a damn thing. No one has the right to harass a person's family in the hopes that the person in debt will be embarrassed into paying the bill. If the person in debt has no money, they have no money and trying to embarrass them or scare them isn't going to work.

Why am I even bothering to respond to you, Lightning. You probably think it is okay for collection agencies to do whatever they think it takes to collect money.