Harassed for debt that's not yours? Here's how to make it stopBy Todd Ossenfort
Dear Credit Guy,
I
am hoping you can address a problem I have not seen discussed in print. My
daughter and her then-boyfriend lived with me briefly in 2002-2003. A
collection company calls from different numbers sporadically -- sometimes
several times daily and other days, not at all -- regarding a debt owed by the
ex-boyfriend. I have spoken with a rep once and asked that they stop
calling once I confirmed they were looking for the ex-boyfriend and advised
them I have no idea where he is or how he can be contacted. They stopped
briefly and then resumed the calls. Blocking does not work, as they call
from different numbers. What are my rights? And how do I get them to cease
and desist? Surely I am not the only one hounded by creditors who have no
business contacting me. Thank you for any suggestions. -- Cindy
Dear Cindy,
Fortunately,
the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects you from being contacted
repeatedly by unethical debt collectors for an account that is not your own. A collector
may only contact a third party (someone other than the person who owes the
debt) once to ascertain where the person who owes the debt is located and not
again unless the collector believes that the third party "reasonably believes"
that they were given erroneous or incomplete information. Assuming that this is
not the case and you did not give erroneous information, here's what you should
do: The next time the collector calls, tell them that you are aware of your
rights and the laws under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and that they
should not contact you again.
To
make certain that the collector adheres to the requirements of the law, I would
recommend that you send a letter to the collection company -- via certified mail,
return receipt requested -- stating the debt does not belong to you and you do
not want to be contacted regarding the debt again. If you have not received any
written communication from the collector with the address to send your letter,
request the mailing address from them the next time you receive a call from
them. Or, if you know the name of the company, you can look up their address in
an online directory, such as YellowPages.com.
Be
sure to keep copies of the letter that you send and the certified mail receipt
that proves the company received the letter. Should you receive additional
calls after you have told the company not to call again, document the call and
file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at its website.
The FTC does not directly resolve consumer complaints, but it files them in its
database. If it receives multiple complaints about the same collection
company, then it will act to resolve the problem.
Unfortunately,
you may resolve the issue of getting calls from this collection company only to
find that, in the future, you are contacted by a different collection company.
The contact information that is associated with this debt, regrettably, has
your phone number associated with it, and any future collection company that
purchases the debt for probably pennies on the dollar will use the contact
information that it is provided. You will need to go through the same process
that you did with the first company so you won't get contacted
again.
Take
care of your credit!
See related: 5 key federal laws that protect card holders, Debt collectors' ethics codes, Debt collection sample letters
Todd Ossenfort is the chief operating officer for Pioneer Credit Counseling in Rapid City, S.D. Pioneer Credit Counseling has been a member of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies since 1997.
The Credit Guy answers a question about a debt or credit issue from a CreditCards.com reader each week.
Send your question to The Credit Guy.
Published: January 3, 2011
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