PDA

View Full Version : Creditors calling ME for neighbor's bad credit!!!



jren
06-15-2009, 10:00 AM
I am in shock! We have excellent credit, always have. And now because a neighbor has a late bill, a collections company is going to start calling and badgering me??? Unbeleivable! I can't believe they would tell me a neighbors name - that is none of my business and I really don't want to be involved in someone else's financial affairs. I guess they think I'll try to get the neighbor to pay the bill now so they'll stop calling me?

The number showed up on my caller id as 678-486-1027. Feel free to call and harass THEM in your spare time!

frgsnlzrds
06-15-2009, 10:25 AM
Wow! I posted on here when I started getting calls for my family, but a neighbor! Sheesh!

This is what I found out and posted in another thread, I am pretty sure that they are not allowed by law to call you again, although the guy who kept calling me for my Dad had to be threatened with the police before he stopped calling me a bad daughter for not helping my dad get in touch with him! Good luck and I hope you never hear from them again! :-)


I think it's called the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Thanks for that! It's pretty interesting.

Any debt collector communicating with any person other
than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location infor-
mation about the consumer shall—
(1) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correct-
ing location information concerning the consumer, and,
only if expressly requested, identify his employer;
(2) not state that such consumer owes any debt;
(3) not communicate with any such person more than once
unless requested to do so by such person or unless
the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier
response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and
that such person now has correct or complete location
information

Except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the
consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the ex-
press permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as
reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial
remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connec-
tion with the collection of any debt, with any person other
than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency
if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of
the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.

For the purpose of this section, the term “consumer” in-
cludes the consumer’s spouse, parent (if the consumer is a
minor), guardian, executor, or administrator.

Naranjadia
06-15-2009, 12:28 PM
That's Nationwide Credit who called you. They were just forced to pay a million dollar settlement for violating the FDCPA. Sounds like they haven't learned a thing.

hbridge
06-15-2009, 12:46 PM
We get these calls regularly for family members and others who I have NEVER met. I have no problem telling them once that there is no one here by that name, ect. But they don't stop calling. At one point we had five messages a day (for weeks) on the answering machine from the same lawyers office AFTER I had already told them twice they had the wrong person. It's crazy.

Of course it's better than finding out in the middle of a refinance that a credit report has information from a family member on it and it takes hours of work to get it straightened out before we lose the phenomenal interest rate. I have to admit that there is anger toward this family member when, in reality, they did nothing that should have any affect on me.

Also, I HATE knowing someone elses business and there is always that "pressure" that maybe we should be financially "helping" when we can't afford to...

Sometimes I wonder who is watching out for us who do everything "by the book"...

ShanaMama
06-15-2009, 01:34 PM
We've gotten harassing calls about the prior owners or tenants of our house. They didn't even forward their mail! Apparently, the debt keeps on getting sold, because every few months a new collection agency starts calling. The first time they call I say that I have nothing to do with those people & if they call again I will report them to the BBB. We did report one company to the BBB & would definitely do it again.

TwinFoxes
06-15-2009, 02:00 PM
The first time they call I say that I have nothing to do with those people & if they call again I will report them to the BBB. We did report one company to the BBB & would definitely do it again.

I don't think the BBB is the place to report them. Debt collectors don't care about the BBB. The businesses who hired them WANT the debt collectors to harass people because they want to be paid. BBB has no enforcement abilities. They need to be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, or to the state's Attorney General's office.

jren
06-15-2009, 04:45 PM
Thanks for the info on how to report them. I will be. I just really don't want them calling me several times a day waking a sleeping baby. I don't even know who these neighbors are.

A while back, I saw a report by 20/20 or Dateline on this agency. It's owned by criminals (real ones with guns and jail time/records), so I don't doubt they'll continue despite the lawsuit they lost. I was extremely rude to the woman on the phone, and I plan on being even worse should they call me again. These employees know what they're doing is wrong/illegal. I understand they need a job, but that doesn't mean resort to illegal tactics.

I just feel for the affected neighbors b/c I can only imagine what they've been through with these people. And I don't assume that they even owe any money. A lot of times the debt has been paid long ago and this credit agency still tries to harass for additional money and won't take payments off their books.

DrSally
06-15-2009, 09:43 PM
Can you block the number on your phone or do they call from a different number every time?