Debt collectors are permitted by law to contact your friends or family in an attempt to locate you. However, they are not permitted to contact these individuals in an attempt to collect the debt, and they are only permitted to contact them once unless they believe fresh information may be available. This, however, necessitates the individual answering and informing the collector that they are not the debtor.
You can tell the collector if the collector is calling about a friend or family member who has died away. If you have such information, you can also direct them to the estate executor, but you don’t have to.
File a Complaint With the FTC
While the FDCPA spells out a lot of what a debt collector can and can’t do, not all debt collectors adhere to the guidelines. If the collector has been advised that you are not the debtor and they continue to phone, you may need to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and maybe your state attorney general’s office to get them to stop.
Get Legal Help
While reporting the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General’s Office is normally the last resort, extreme instances may necessitate legal action. If you’re unsure if you have legal basis for a harassment claim or can’t get the calls to stop, speaking with a consumer law attorney may be beneficial.
Avoid Common Mistakes
Never offer your personal information to a debt collector. Scammers may act as debt collectors, and providing them with this information might lead to crimes such as identity theft or credit card fraud. It’s also a bad idea to lose your cool or become enraged. These phone calls might be aggravating. However, bear in mind that the person on the other end of the line is only trying to perform their job, and losing your cool isn’t going to help.
Is it legal for collection agencies to call your family?
Is it Legal for Debt Collectors to Contact Family Members? A debt collector is prohibited by law from threatening or using physical force against you, a member of your family, or a third party related to you in order to collect your debt.
How do I stop bill collectors from calling my family?
Paying up your debt is the simplest approach to prevent debt collectors from contacting your family members. Start by examining your financial condition and aspirations, which may be easier said than done. Then consider how you can pay off your debts in a practical manner.
There may be additional options if you are unable to pay the loan in full. A creditor or a debt collection agency may be able to work out a payment plan with you. But if you do, make sure you can keep to the payment schedule. If you don’t, you can find yourself in an even worse scenario. Also, keep in mind that entering into a payment agreement can cause the statute of limitations to reset. This means that the debt collection agency will have longer time than before to collect the loan. In addition, if a payment schedule is broken, the debt collector may become more aggressive in their collection operations.
If you believe a debt collection agency has broken the FDCPA, you should seek legal help. It makes no difference whether a debt collector is calling you, a family member, a neighbor, or a friend. They may be violating the FDCPA if they harass, abuse, or act inappropriately by notifying others about the nature of your consumer debts or not properly identifying themselves. A consumer and debtors’ rights lawyer can help you with any potential claims.
Sending a Cease-and-Desist Letter
Debt collectors are known for their tenacity. Debt collectors can be stopped by sending a debt verification letter or a simple cease-and-desist letter. Many templates, including those from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are available online (CFPB). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website also includes FAQs and resources on personal finance, debt relief, and how to avoid debt collection calls. Finally, your local legal assistance agency might be able to give you with template letters that you can customize as needed.
Where To Report FDCPA Violations
Remember that you have rights, and you should exercise them as needed. If debt collectors are pestering you, your family, or your neighbors about your debts, take action. It’s a good idea to keep track of any correspondence with debt collectors and to document any suspicious conduct. You can also request debt validation to ensure that the debt is authentic and write a cease-and-desist letter to stop a collector from contacting you. Remember that you have the option of disputing erroneous bills with the debt collector, the original creditor, and the credit bureaus.
Contact the Federal Trade Commission, your state’s attorney general, and the Better Business Bureau if you believe a debt collector has broken the FDCPA. Filing a complaint can aid in the prevention of future inappropriate or illegal behavior. You might also wish to schedule a consultation with an attorney. Stopping collection efforts or negotiating a debt settlement may be possible with the help of a debtor’s rights or consumer protection attorney. They may even be able to file a claim against the debt collection agency for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and other consumer protection laws, resulting in monetary damages for you.
Can debt collectors tell your relatives?
To begin, any California resident who receives a call from a debt collector looking for a relative should not assume that the relative handed out their phone number. Debt collectors employ a technique known as “skip-tracing” to locate a debtor’s contact information. This entails contacting anyone with knowledge regarding the debtor’s location. Debt collectors typically utilize websites like Spokeo to track down the names and phone numbers of possible informants.
Debt collectors are increasingly turning to social media pages for information on borrowers’ relatives and friends. Unless Californians utilize stringent privacy restrictions on their social media accounts, a lot of their personal information is visible to anyone who wishes to look. Reset your privacy controls if you wish to lessen your chances of receiving unsolicited phone calls. You can restrict access to certain information to friends and followers. As an added advantage, this deters identity thieves from gathering your information in order to perpetrate fraud against you.
What Debt Collectors Can and Cannot Ask California Consumers When Calling About a Relative
When a debt collector calls a California resident about a relative’s debt, they have the right to inquire about their whereabouts and how to contact them. That is all there is to it. Period. Debt collectors are not allowed to discuss the real debt unless the debtor expressly authorizes it. Debt collection agents aren’t even allowed to identify your relative as a debtor under the FDCPA.
If a debt collector contacts you in the aim of obtaining information about a family member, keep this in mind. Consumers in California should also be aware that debt collectors are not allowed to contact third parties repeatedly. Instead, each person receives a single phone call. Furthermore, debt collectors are not permitted to threaten or use abusive language with any consumer they contact. Debt collectors may not berate, abuse, or degrade you if you wish to withhold information.
It is totally up to you what you tell the debt collector (if anything at all). You can also take legal action against an agent if you believe they have broken the FDCPA.
Stop Debt Collector Harassment in California
Let’s get started on what we can do to improve your credit. Call Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (855) 956-2089 or send him a note through our contact page to schedule your free consultation.
Can a debt collector talk to anyone else about my debt?
Debt collectors are limited in what they can say or inquire about you. In most cases, a debt collector can only contact other people to find out:
Debt collectors aren’t allowed to contact you more than once, and they can’t claim to be trying to collect a debt. A debt collector is generally prohibited from discussing your debt with anyone other than:
If the debt collector is aware that you are being represented by an attorney over the debt, the debt collector must contact the attorney rather than you. If your attorney fails to respond to the collector within a reasonable time or if your attorney agrees to the collector’s communication, the debt collector may contact you.
Tip: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has created sample letters that a consumer can use to respond to a debt collector attempting to recover a debt. The letters come with instructions on how to utilize them. The sample letters may assist you in obtaining information, establishing boundaries or stopping further communication, or exercising some of your rights.
- If your company forbids you from receiving personal calls at work, you should inform the debt collector.
- If a debt collector knows that you are not permitted to receive calls from them at work, the debt collector is not permitted to call you there.
- If a debt collector contacts your place of business, you should speak with the person who answered the phone to find out what the debt collector said. A debt collector is not allowed to inform your employer that you owe money. If a debt collector has informed your employer that you owe a bill, you should see an attorney to learn more about your options.
If you’re encountering problems with debt collection, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) online or by calling (855) 411-CFPB (2372).
Can debt collectors call your spouse?
If you advise debt collectors in writing that you do not want them to contact you or your spouse, they are not allowed to contact you or your spouse. A debt collector who does not stop communicating after receiving written notice is breaking the law.
Common Scenarios:
A consumer owing a debt and is unable to repay it at the present moment. He or she receives a call from a creditor or debt collector requesting payment. The consumer informs the collection agency’s collection representative that he or she does not have the funds and will be unable to pay for the following month. The collection agency informs the consumer that it will contact them again in a month to request payment. At that time, the consumer believes they are no longer being harassed by collection agencies. However, two hours later, he or she receives a call from the same collection agency demanding payment once more. The customer tells the collection agent that he or she just got a call that day and told the previous collection agent that a payment couldn’t be made right now, but that it would be possible next month. The debt collector claims it will contact you next month. Now the customer is convinced that he or she will not receive any calls for the next month. However, the same collection agency makes another call to the consumer a few hours later. This time, the customer is irritated and refuses to pick up the phone. The next day, the customer receives three or more calls from a creditor or debt collector attempting to collect a debt, and this pattern repeats itself each day.
This, in my opinion, is the type of aggressive and frequent collection calls that the FDCPA and RFDCPA are designed to prevent.
Can collection agencies harass family members?
If a debt collector harasses you, don’t let your embarrassment over your debt keep you from taking action. Collection agencies are not authorized to phone you multiple times a day, harass your family members, or threaten to have you arrested, even if you owe money legitimately.
“Getting a phone call from a debt collector can be frightening,” says Joyce Blue, a money relationship expert in Boise, Idaho. “Recognize that you are not alone, and don’t be embarrassed about it. Ignoring the calls is the worst thing you can do. It’s not an admission of guilt to speak with them.”
You also don’t have to communicate with a collection agency right away, according to Kevin Gallegos, vice president of Phoenix operations for Freedom Debt Relief. If you pick up the phone and aren’t ready to talk about your situation,
Should I answer debt collector calls?
What Should You Say If a Debt Collector Calls? A debt collector’s phone call seldom arrives at a convenient time, but the best answer is to tackle the situation head-on. You may want to hide or ignore the problem in the hopes that it will go away, but this will only make matters worse.
What happens if a debt collector calls you?
Make a decision about what to do next after the call. Once you’ve gotten off the phone, you can use the debt validation procedure to challenge the bill, send a stop and desist letter, request a pay for deletion, make a settlement offer, or pay the debt in full.
Do debt collectors call from unknown numbers?
According to my understanding of current court law and laws, it is perfectly legitimate for debt collectors to block their phone numbers.
The court stated in Glover v. Client Services 2007 WL 2902209 that a collector might phone a blocked number.
In sum, the Court finds that simply “blocking” a telephone number, as alleged in this case, cannot be considered unfair or unconscionable under the FDCPA as a matter of law, given the admittedly non-exclusive examples of “unfair” or “unconscionable” conduct identified in the statute, as well as the purposes underlying Congress’ passage of the FDCPA.
Collectors do it because it’s not illegal, and it’s more frightening to get a call from a blocked number.
How did debt collector get my number?
When you call debt collectors on your mobile phone after receiving a collection letter, this is the most common way they gain your cell number. Your phone number is then “trapped” by them.
How long can you legally be chased for a debt?
The statute of limitations is a law that establishes a time restriction for debt collectors to prosecute consumers for unpaid debt. The statute of limitations for debt varies by state and type of obligation, and can last anywhere from three to twenty years. To get you started, here’s a list of each state’s debt statute of limitations – but keep in mind that credit card companies frequently argue in court that the law in their home state (not yours) should apply.
