BOA not getting it.

[syn]

Seems alot of people are having problems with them.

When my dad retained a lawyer he told all of his creditors that he is filing bankruptcy including BOA. Last night at 9 p.m. they called yet again wanting to discuss options. My dad called back and yelled at the woman saying how she wasn't suppose to continue to call and she claimed she "didn't know" that he was doing that even though my dad had already told the original person who was handling his account that he was.

My dad then threatened legal action if they continued and hung up on her. Now I wonder if BOA is going to continue to be a thorn in his side by calling again, what should he do? Tell his lawyer or just ignore them?

[allavdj]

I think before he yells at somebody again he should remember...

The person on the other end of the phone has a computer in front of them calling people, they aren't sitting there flipping through the records throwing darts to see who to call. The lady he was "yelling" at was the mercy of a computer system that somebody else hadn't properly updated.

Also, they are well within their rights to call you up until you have an actual case number. They don't want to loose a bunch of money so obviously they want to "work something out". Have your dad imagine that somebody owes him 2..3..5k dollars and that person just told him they were going to be filing BK at some point in the future. I imagine your dad would probably want to try to recover at least some of the money.

Remember that these folks are just doing their job. If they are rude, terminate the conversation, but yelling and screaming at somebody is really unnecessary.

To answer your question....give them your lawyers info and hang up next time...all you need to do

[GoingDown]

But you see? That's the problem. There have been lots of other posts on here about B of A calling long after they have the information about them filing for bankruptcy. They don't seem to care. They don't seem to put the information in their computers, and they don't seem to make any attempt to remove the debtor's phone number from their computer dialer even after they get the official information from the bankruptcy court.

They are huge, and the right hand of B of A doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing most of the time.

I have been getting lots of calls from them about a relative's B of A credit cards, and no matter how many times I try to explain to them the entire situation, it doesn't do any good. They just call right back and act as if they have no idea what I just talked to them about.

I think it is their method of wearing people down until they voluntarily pay them just to make them go away.

I've given up talking to them. I just don't answer the phone anymore when I see on caller ID that it is not a relative or friend calling. It seems to be the only way to deal with B of A.

As far as yelling at these people, well, these debt collectors are quite hostile and rude. They are not polite and nice people. They are typically the bottom of the barrel as far as people go, or otherwise they would get a better job than debt collection. I don't feel sorry for them. I have nothing but contempt for them. But the best thing is to just not speak to them at all.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I think before he yells at somebody again he should remember...

The person on the other end of the phone has a computer in front of them calling people, they aren't sitting there flipping through the records throwing darts to see who to call. The lady he was "yelling" at was the mercy of a computer system that somebody else hadn't properly updated.

Also, they are well within their rights to call you up until you have an actual case number. They don't want to loose a bunch of money so obviously they want to "work something out". Have your dad imagine that somebody owes him 2..3..5k dollars and that person just told him they were going to be filing BK at some point in the future. I imagine your dad would probably want to try to recover at least some of the money.

Remember that these folks are just doing their job. If they are rude, terminate the conversation, but yelling and screaming at somebody is really unnecessary.

To answer your question....give them your lawyers info and hang up next time...all you need to do

This is why I tell them I am recording the call ( whether I am or not). This prompts to the Customer Service Person to make sure they are updating their records.

I created a script. I suggest your dad uses it. I don't have a case number yet. however, I started using this and we rarely receive calls. This included BOA. I should have my case number here in a couple weeks. Here the thread with my script and processes.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=27825

[allavdj]

But you see? That's the problem. There have been lots of other posts on here about B of A calling long after they have the information about them filing for bankruptcy. They don't seem to care. They don't seem to put the information in their computers, and they don't seem to make any attempt to remove the debtor's phone number from their computer dialer even after they get the official information from the bankruptcy court.

They are huge, and the right hand of B of A doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing most of the time.

I have been getting lots of calls from them about a relative's B of A credit cards, and no matter how many times I try to explain to them the entire situation, it doesn't do any good. They just call right back and act as if they have no idea what I just talked to them about.

I think it is their method of wearing people down until they voluntarily pay them just to make them go away.

I've given up talking to them. I just don't answer the phone anymore when I see on caller ID that it is not a relative or friend calling. It seems to be the only way to deal with B of A.

As far as yelling at these people, well, these debt collectors are quite hostile and rude. They are not polite and nice people. They are typically the bottom of the barrel as far as people go, or otherwise they would get a better job than debt collection. I don't feel sorry for them. I have nothing but contempt for them. But the best thing is to just not speak to them at all.

The OP stated that the father is filing bankruptcy, not filed. Until he files and has a case number Bank of America can call him till they are blue in the face. They are not required by law to contact his lawyer nor can he pursue any sort of legal action against them.

Now once he has filed and has a case number then sure...BoA is most certainly in the wrong if they persist in calling.

[ansky0007]

The OP stated that the father is filing bankruptcy, not filed. Until he files and has a case number Bank of America can call him till they are blue in the face. They are not required by law to contact his lawyer nor can he pursue any sort of legal action against them.

Now once he has filed and has a case number then sure...BoA is most certainly in the wrong if they persist in calling.

Not true.. The minute they are formally informed that you are represented by councel they are no longer allowed to contact you. This is the law.

Consumer represented by attorney (Section 805(a)(2)). If a debt collector learns that a consumer is represented by an attorney in connection with the debt, even if not formally notified of this fact, the debt collector must contact only the attorney and must not contact the consumer.

[syn]

I think before he yells at somebody again he should remember...

The person on the other end of the phone has a computer in front of them calling people, they aren't sitting there flipping through the records throwing darts to see who to call. The lady he was "yelling" at was the mercy of a computer system that somebody else hadn't properly updated.

Also, they are well within their rights to call you up until you have an actual case number. They don't want to loose a bunch of money so obviously they want to "work something out". Have your dad imagine that somebody owes him 2..3..5k dollars and that person just told him they were going to be filing BK at some point in the future. I imagine your dad would probably want to try to recover at least some of the money.

Remember that these folks are just doing their job. If they are rude, terminate the conversation, but yelling and screaming at somebody is really unnecessary.

To answer your question....give them your lawyers info and hang up next time...all you need to do

No, if my dad was owed money from someone else he would contact the person's attorney if they were filing bk and had one retained. That has happened to my dad before. A company filed bk and he loss $5,000 because by the time it was his turn to get the money there was nothing left and he had to write it off as a loss on his taxes.

Yes, I understand they have a job to do and I understand that they want their money but I would think once you give them a name of an attorney and phone number that you have retained for bk that they would respect it. That's all I'm saying.

I agree with the other posters, BOA has gotten to big so they have no idea what's going on.

[syn]

This is why I tell them I am recording the call ( whether I am or not). This prompts to the Customer Service Person to make sure they are updating their records.

I created a script. I suggest your dad uses it. I don't have a case number yet. however, I started using this and we rarely receive calls. This included BOA. I should have my case number here in a couple weeks. Here the thread with my script and processes.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=27825

Thanks, I'll let him know about it.

[exhausted]

Yep, right there with your dad. I had trouble with them just last week and posted about it: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=30141 . No matter how many times I repeated "We already filed" and "You are breaking the law" they didn't seem to get it either. We filed back on July 31 and are now just days away from discharge. I believe I read somewhere on the forum that BoA is notified electronically by the court. I have a hard time believing they didn't know almost immediately after we filed.

After reading your post, I'm convinced now more than ever that they are very aware of what they are doing, and like GoindDown said, they don't seem to care. This sort of thing seems to be happening to a lot of us around here.

I don't know if my information finally got through their system or if the last guy I spoke to knew I was right and they gave up, but I haven't heard a peep from them since. This happened on Friday, so I fully expected to hear from them again on Monday. So far all is quite. *Knocks on wood*

After some wise advice in my BoA topic, I decided that since we are so close to discharge to just ignore/hang up on them if they call again. The stress isn't worth it.

[StartingOver08]

Well, I had a similar experience with another collections agency (not BOA) after the filing. I gave them the case number and attorney name and number. A week later they sent me a letter saying they were going to file a lien against the house and attach any vehicle I own and my bank accounts. They put this in writing!!! (This was a month after the CH 7 file date). Now, for all practical purposes it does not matter because I am in a CH 7 and I am surrendering everything but one vehicle (also surrending the house etc)
But for some reason I got p***sd.

All I did was fax the letter to my attorney. He immediately wrote a BEAUTIFUL letter demanding they pay his attorney fees and to cease and desist and telling them one more contact either via phone or letter was going to result in an suit in front of the BK judge.

I have not heard one peep since! And, to top it off, the letter just gave me some satisfaction. You might want to let your attorney know about BOA's harrasment - that is what you are paying for. BOA has deep pockets. The only way they are going to obey the federal law is to continually get their hand slapped by the courts until they change their system. They will not change if we don't report them. The judges don't realize that the CA's ignore the BK laws on a regular basis.

[wayne-o]

The bad thing is the fdcpa only applies to collection agencies, not original creditors. So I believe until the OP actually files, BOA can continue to call.

[Flamingo]

When it comes to creditors and calls; once you retain an attorney and your attorney gives you his/her contact information, when the creditors call give that information to them, write down the creditor who called on a notepad next to your phone with the date and time of the call and that the attorney's information was given. Hang up the phone after providing that information to the caller - do not chit chat as to how bad things are, etc. or answer further questions by the caller. If you handle things that way, the calls will die down and if they call again, either do not answer the phone when you see the ID or if you do answer and they have already called, you have the listing with the date and time and tell them they already called, you provided the contact information to the caller on that date and time and just hang up. There is no need to draw out the entire situation. Once you file and they start getting the paperwork, the calls will eventually die down to a trickle over the course of the 30 days after filing.

Handle it like a business matter - there is no need to chit chat, call anyone names, etc.

[StartingOver08]

Don't think we are talking FDCPA violations here - if the BK is filed it is a violation of the BK automatic stay. If the attorney is retained and not yet filed then the OP can give attorney info and hang up and not respond to any further calls from BOA. The attorney can notify BOA with a letter/phonecall, but has to be aware of the harrasment.

As to chit chat...don't think the OP is engaging in chit chat

[Flamingo]

As to chit chat...don't think the OP is engaging in chit chat

______________________

No, wasn't directed to the OP but as a general mentioning to anyone dealing with these calls. We tend to get emotional when these calls come in and will blurt out all sorts of stuff as to how bad things may be, etc. and that just makes things worse and may give them further ammo. We don't know those people and they don't know us. Hanging up should not be a problem in that respect. The less stated, the better. Like business, stick to the facts and be brief, then hang up.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

______________________

No, wasn't directed to the OP but as a general mentioning to anyone dealing with these calls. We tend to get emotional when these calls come in and will blurt out all sorts of stuff as to how bad things may be, etc. and that just makes things worse and may give them further ammo. We don't know those people and they don't know us. Hanging up should not be a problem in that respect. The less stated, the better. Like business, stick to the facts and be brief, then hang up.

EXACTLY!! That is why I created a script. Your mind starts to wonder when someone is attacking you or questioning your ability to pay. We know were in the wrong for not paying. This is why I printed two scripts and placed one by couch at home and one in my desk at work if they call. My best line is..

"My attorney can answer your question would like his name & phone number"

If the conversation goes beyond that I tell them have a nice day and I hang up.