Can Creditors Really Call My Neighbors Or Family?
The fact is, that collection agencies are known for bending if not down right breaking the “Fair Debt Collections Practices Act” to try and collect on a debt.
But the questions is: “Can a collection or creditor call a neighbor or family member to collect a debt?”
And the answer is yes.
In most states a collector or creditor can only call a neighbor or relative once and they are only allowed to find out where you live, what your phone number is, and where you work. They are not allowed to say they are collecting a debt, the collector is not to tell anyone other than you or your lawyer that you owe money.
How can I prevent this ?
A good way to protect yourself from this happening to you, would be to write your creditors a “Cease and Desist Letter.” Telling the creditors where to contact you. A creditor can not call you after you tell and write them a letter telling them to stop contacting you at a certain number or all together. But if you try to break off all contact that might spark them to pursue possible legal actions like judgments, liens, or garnishments.
So it is normally best to give them a way to contact you, if it is a legitimate secured or unsecured debt that you owe. Whether it is your attorney or a debt management or negotiation company with your limited power of attorney.
Creditors can not contact you at work if they know your employer disapproves of those types of contacts. You can also normally get a collector to stop calling your cell phone number if the collector knows it will cause you a higher bill, by taking up your minutes. Of course you need to check any state laws that may be different but the FTC.gov sets the guidelines.
By: Jeff T Forman
Tags: Cease And Desist Letter, Cell Phone Number, Collecting A Debt, Collection Agencies, Creditor, Creditors, Debt Collections, Debt Management, Debt Negotiation, Family Member, Ftc, Garnishments, Judgments, Legal Actions, Limited Power, Neighbor, Neighbors, Power Of Attorney, State Laws, Unsecured Debt