creditor called next door neighbour !

[sisterfunkhaus]

Creditors and collection agencies start calling your friends and neighbors when you don't answer the telephone. As I have stated over and over on this forum avoiding the calls is a bad idea. Many people on here will tell you to not answer your phone. I equate that to sticking your head in the sand. The problem won't go away.

It was easier for my sanity to not answer. I didn't care who they called, I just told people the truth and didn't worry too much about what others thought. They called people who were not even blood relatives of mine, and I was just honest when those people said something to me about the calls.

[marie]

well, they called my neighbour because they did not have a number for me. We gave up our house phone a couple of years back to save money.

i did call them back the next day

[Bell30656]

The best way to avoid the embarrassment of a collector calling your work, pastor, neighbors, friends or whatever? Answer your phone! Don't hide from them but don't give them any information either. Simply confirm that you are the party they are seeking and then tell them to have a nice day. No embarrassing calls to any other parties.

[JKPDX]

One creditor did call my old place of employment. Luckily one of my friends was working and said she didn't know I was and had never heard of me. Then the creditor called right back. My friend said, "Didn't I just talk to you? I told you.. I don't know who this guy is and I have worked here for 5 years!" Then she called me. She was funny, "someone called a couple times looking for you. They were probably trying to sell you aluminum siding or something...."

[ToughSpot]

I CA just called an organization where I volunteer and am listed on the website. They are trying to collect for a debt from my out of business LLC which I plan to BK when I file. Embarrassing but I guess that comes with the territory. I am in SoCal can I stop them from calling back?

[dscurlock]

I have had a creditor call my wifes mom, several states away...and I really
do not even know my wifes mom that much to begin with. Its wired that
everytime someone wants to talk, and it seems to be easy to get ahold
of her mother...They must have access to a pretty savvy database...

[Bell30656]

Creditors and collection agencies start calling your friends and neighbors when you don't answer the telephone. As I have stated over and over on this forum avoiding the calls is a bad idea. Many people on here will tell you to not answer your phone. I equate that to sticking your head in the sand. The problem won't go away.

From my personal experience the best way to handle creditors is to ensure that they have a current telephone number for you. Then when they call you confirm you are who they are looking for but refuse to discuss the matter. Oh, they huff and puff. They will tell you that you have to discuss it, that is when you bid them a good day and hang up. I've told debt collectors that we can discuss the Braves, old cars or the weather but if they mention anything having to do with the debt I'll hang up. Man, they hate that. See, what little training they have tells them to maintain control of the telephone call. They hate some ****** taking control and telling them what they will or won't do.

As long as they can reach you, they cannot begin calling anyone to "attempt to locate" you. This pond scum debt collector that called you wasn't doing anything wrong. They were attempting to reach you and discuss the debt that they feel you legitimately owe their company or the company that they represent. Expect more of these type of calls.

I never told any debt collector of my intentions to file. After I filed, I was such an *** that I simply told the debt collectors that I had retained an attorney reference this matter. When they would ask if I had filed or was filing bankruptcy, I stuck to my mantra. I have retained the firm of Dewey, Cheatum and Howe... they are members of the Georgia Bar Association and in the phone book. Please contact them for all information about this matter. I even had a couple JDB's ask me if I was suing them. My reply was for them to call Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.

[marie]

thank you. the neighbour had not spoken to them personally, but they had left a message on his answering machine. I really don't think he had any idea that it was a collector, just someone who was trying to contact us over a business matter.

I am rapidly getting over any guilt or embarrassment as I realise that everyone is hurting in the current economy, and no one seems to be immune to hardship at the moment.

[debtprison]

First of all don't be embarrassed. Chances are very high that your neighbor either is or is about to be in near the same situation. Either talk to the neighbor in person or write a letter asking them to no longer contact you over any such matters and recommend that they no longer answer or otherwise get involved in matters involving your personal business. I'm not suggesting to be rude about it -- merely to let them no that you don't wish to see them as an intermediary in the matter.

In reality most people would have refused such a request from a creditor as they would know better. If a creditor asked me to contact a family member or neighbor over a debt I'd either just hang up or tell them to go to hell.

[DeadManCrawling]

Fill me in on the post-filing video. I'd love to hear all about it!!!

It was boring, long and poorly produced. So, I stopped watching it. I downloaded it to another computer which has the capability of auto-scanning it and grabbing the codes you are required to write down to prove that you actually watched it.

Will bore the heck out of the other computer later. May seem cruel, but computers aren't considered living beings . . . right?

Maybe I will post the codes on a bunch of webites and forums so others do not have to suffer in vain.

lol

[Faust]

I am sorry about your troubles.

[marie]

so, I called them back last night, but I just got a machine. they called me again this morning, and I was able to deal with them in a coherent fashion, thanks to the information I had read on this forum.

If I had not been reading here for the last few weeks , I would have been a gibbering wreck !

Thanks everyone who posts here...every bit of information is useful and arms us for this struggle ahead.

[calgirl67]

BTW, I am watching the debtor education, post-filing video, tonight, so I may post nonstop while this fool yells at me about my bad decisions.

Fill me in on the post-filing video. I'd love to hear all about it!!!

[DeadManCrawling]

Yep, these arses will do whatever they can to shame you into paying. I had a similar call, as noted above. The creditor asked me to walk four houses down the block and hand my phone to my neighbor. They even told me they were trying to collect money. I knew nothing of FDCPA at the time, but I knew enough to avoid being part of this person's misery.

I eventually met the man and DID come to understand his situation. He had been conned out of about 35k by a self-publishing outfit. They convinced him that he could be the next best-selling author on the subject of Golf. The next Tiger Woods, if you will. This, in spite of the fact that, he had only taken up golfing as a sport at age 62 and really wasn't good. They preyed on his dreams and ruined his life. Now he has a garage filled with mildewing pallets of unedited and terrible looking books with no quality and no value

He spent his life savings and retirement money on this travesty.

These people should be in prison.

BTW, I am watching the debtor education, post-filing video, tonight, so I may post nonstop while this fool yells at me about my bad decisions.

[LimpDisc]

"I presume it was a creditor... I was very embarrassed"

That was their intention.