Question:
For many months, my mother has been receiving repeated calls from a
collection agency looking for a person who we don't even know. She has
called them four times to tell them that we don't know the person and
that they have the wrong number. They have continued to call (she has
the same last name and first initial as the person they're trying to
collect from).
We got another call on Monday, and she called the company back again,
asking for the person who left the message. The person who answered the
phone wouldn't put her through to the collection agent, refused to
remove her number from the account, refused to pass her call to anyone
else, was abusive, and finally hung up on her.
So I called back, to get an address, and apparantly got the same
person. All I wanted was an address, and he refused to provide one. He
asked what I wanted the address for, and I asked for the address for
their legal department. He wanted more information - he asked what I
was going to send. I told him that his company was contiually calling
my mother for someone we didn't know and I wanted them to stop. He
laughed and told me to "go back to the internet", and still refused to
give me an address. Then he told me that if I called back again, that
his company would report me to the police for harassing THEM.
Now, I don't consider his "threat" legitimate - I seriously doubt he
has any authority to do any such thing. I have also since been able to
determine the company address - and it turns out that they're in the
same state (California) and only about 60 miles away.
What recourse is there in this circumstance? Knowing the full company
info now, of course I can send a letter to their service agent to get
the calls to stop - but I'm wondering if anything can be done about the
person we spoke to? It seems to me that his behavior SHOULD be a
violation of some law or collection agency regulation - but I would
have no idea if it IS. Is there a regulatory body that I can file a
complaint with? Or some statute that I can file suit under?
Answer:
-Third-party collection agencies are regulated by the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act. Here is how to word your "stop
calling" demand:
http://www.cardreport.com/credit-problems/collection-faq.html
-A: For many months, my mother has been receiving repeated calls from a
collection agency looking for a person who we don't even know. She has
called them four times to tell them that we don't know the person and
that they have the wrong number. They have continued to call (she has
the same last name and first initial as the person they're trying to
collect from).
We got another call on Monday, and she called the company back again,
A: That is her mistake. Don't call someone or email the Pope in
Rome...write a letter, put in the facts, and send it certified
with proof of delivery requested. In this case, she needs to
quote the federal fair debt collections act, something that
you can look up for her using the Internet. Simply state
that you are not the person, that you will not be paying anything
unless so ordered by a court of proper jurisdiction, and you wish
all future contact to be in writing.
