Hi, When my son(25) lived at home he gave our phone number to his creditors to use as contact info. He move out last year and has had his car reposessed and let several credit cards accounts go unpaid since then. One of his creditors/debt collectors calls my house at least twice daily. I have told these people time & time again that he no longer lives here but they keep calling. They have asked where he moved to and another contact number for him..I will not give them this information and this is what was said to me: "Mam, we will keep calling you untill we get the information we need." Now I don't know who the creditor/collector is but I can see their phone number on my caller id. (I have call block but it won't work because the calls are out of my calling network. We live in SC & the callls come in fron CA.) Is there anyway I can stop these calls? If I ask them for their company name and address can they refuse to give it to me? My son still gets his mail at home because he moves around a lot needs a permanant address for certain things. He just throws the collection bills in the trash when he comes by. Shouldn't I send these back with "address unknown" written on them? Thanks in advance!
Write down the telephone number you see on your Caller ID. Note the time of the call. Keep a log of the telephone calls, the time, *who* [ask for "first name and surname"]called, and who they claim to be working for in regard to your son's alleged account. Tell them, and note the time and the specific individual that you speak to on the telephone, that your son does not live at your residence and they are to cease contact with you. If possible, get the mail address of the CA who continues to harass you with multiple daily calls. Send a CMRRR letter to "Whom It May Concen" and inform them that they are to cease any telephonic contact with you in regards to collection accounts that are not yours. Keep a copy of the letter, the postal receipt for the postage paid to mail the certified return receipt requested letter and staple them all together with the "green card" when it is returned to you by the post office. CC the SC Attorney General's office on this letter. You *may* continue getting calls, note the time, date, individual and if details of your son's alleged account are revealed to you. Keep an accurate log. A Consumer Advocate Attorney would be extremely interested in it if this CA behavior becomes a pattern. Go to www.naca.net if the problem continues. A quick look at the NACA website shows 7 SC lawyers who are members and they could provide you with advice regarding federal and state laws relating to this matter. [There is no substitute for competent legal advice and the NACA site is very user-friendly.] You do have a right to cease contact with a CA and are under no obligation to speak to any individual on the telphone. Once you have the information - the CA's mail address - hang up. FWIW....(and it's just one opinion here.....) but is there any reason why your adult son can't have a mail box at the local Post Office?
Clearly your son needs to handle his affairs better, but that is another story, and not your responsibility. "Mam, we will keep calling you untill we get the information we need." Sounds like a threat to continually harrassing you by phone. It's your phone, not your son's. At some point this becomes a misdemeanor, not just a FDCPA violation. If they haven't identified themselves, and continue to refuse to identify themselves, file a complaint with your phone company, followed by another with your local police if it continues. You have no obligation to talk to any caller on your phone, including annonymous threatening callers.
Hmm...because I hate these people I'd say "He does not live here. Please direct any further attempts to contact him to (insert attorney's number). Do not attempt to reach him at this number again." I've gotton repeated calls on my business line looking for someone I've never heard of. I simply say "You've got the wrong number." That's worked for all but one who apparently thought I was covering for whoever and called me a liar even though I answered the call giving my business name.
File a complaint for telephone harassment with your phone company. If it continues, file a complaint for the same with your local police, or DA. Ratchet up until it stops. CAs have no special exemption from the laws the rest of us have to follow. On the contrary, they have additional laws they must meet, but since you are not the debtor, the regular "nuisance" misdemeanors, or TSR rules should still apply. Your complaints, combined with CRRR notice to them, should position you for any action you need to take. By the way, although the Do-Not-Call list exempts some callers, such as "charities", and companies you have done business with recently, from the requirement to check and not call numbers on that list, they still must follow the Telemarketting Sales Rule (TSR), which still requires them to keep and maintain their own specific Do-Not-Call lists of people who have asked them not to call. Since the CA is making a "business" call to you, and you are not the debtor, giving them no particular right to contact you, but have specifically requested that they not call, it might be interesting to lump TSR violations and statutory penalties on top of anything else if you have to go after them.
Thanks for the advice everyone, i'm going to mail out a "to whom it may concern" letter as JohnA suggested if I can get the address of the CA. Below is what i'll write: is there anything else I may need to add? To whom it may concern: This letter is to inform you that you are to Cease Any Telephone Contact at my home phone number (xxx) xxx-xxxx in regards to collection accounts that are not mine. The person you have been trying to reach at My home does not live there and I have asked several times that you quit calling.
Re: debt collector harassing parent To whom it may concern: This letter is to inform you that you are to Cease Any Telephone Contact at my home phone number (xxx) xxx-xxxx in regards to collection accounts that are not mine. The person you have been trying to reach at My home does not live there and I have asked several times that you quit calling. Just a suggestion, but you may want to add a few sentences such as: To Whom It May Concern: This certified letter is formal notification that you are to Cease-and-Desist any telephone contact with at my home telephone number (xxx)xxx-xxxx in regards to collection accounts that are not mine. The individual you are seeking is no longer in residence. I have requested that you cease telephonic contact numerous times and your actions are now bordering on harassment. If this continues, I will be keeping a detailed log of your calls and will take further action.
Re: debt collector harassing parent Just a suggestion, but you may want to add a few sentences such as: To Whom It May Concern: This certified letter is formal notification that you are to Cease-and-Desist any telephone contact at my home telephone number (xxx)xxx-xxxx in regards to collection accounts that are not mine. The individual you are seeking is no longer in residence. I have requested that you cease telephonic contact numerous times and your actions are now bordering on harassment. If this continues, I will be keeping a detailed log of your calls and will take further action.
Re: debt collector harassing parent I would reword it from "is no longer in residence" to "does not live here". Don't give them excuses. I would also include that callers from their company had been told repeatedly to stop calling (if that is the case), and list the dates on which they had been so notified. This will document that they are willfully ignoring your request not to call, if they continue, as they are unlikely to reply to your letter claiming their callers did not in fact continue to call. They have already pushed across the boundary from "locating" a debtor, which is the only legitimate reason to have called even once, to using repeated harassment of a third party to attempt to collect. Document it in writing.
