i had a call from my sons in laws today stating that they got a call from Midwest Credit Union about asking some question about me and stating they wanted my daughter in law,s phone # also.i called the man that had called them (Stan Shank is his name) and ask why he was calling other people since i had just talked to him a couple of days ago.he told me that he was calling at least 30 or 40 people and my sons included about a debt i owed (2700) in order to embarrass me.i told him that i would not be intimanted into paying the debt.what can i do to prevent him from calling around to people and discussing this matter.he said that he would be calling my neighbors next.my daughter in law is a vet and her parents are doctors and this is embarrassing but i don t have the money to pay.is there some law about people doing this an some way i can get them to stop.i don t care if he would just sue me as i am judgment proof can i just send them a cease an dessit letter.thank you
If they have your contact information already and know how to reach you, there's no need for them to be contacting your relatives or neighbors for any reason. File a complaint with the FTC, report them to your state's Attorney General for abusive collection practices, and send them a letter letting them know they need to stop this harassment as they are violating your rights under the FDCPA.
thanks very much for the answer.they have my email address,home address ,home phone and cell phone.when i question Stan Shank why he did this his answer was to embarrass me in hopes to pay an also that he was going to call my son,s an (in his word,s) 30 or 40 more people.i had a car repo.an the balance is 2700 that i owe.this is a credit union of all place,s.at the moment i dont have any money to give but he does not care any way.
See if you can record him saying those things the next time he calls. This type of harassment is really just ridiculous.
I believe the FDCPA explicitly states that it's illegal to shame someone into payment this way. It definitely makes it it illegal to reveal details of your debt to your friends and neighbors. But most importantly, it is very likely a violation of your local harassment laws. Most states define harassment along the lines of "to repeatedly contact without purpose, or for the purpose of annoying or harming another". I suspect he didn't really disclose any information about you to your sons or friends (though it wouldn't be the first time this happened), and is simply threatening to do so. However, this is also illegal as per the FDCPA (threatening prohibited action). I would definitely find a way to record the calls. Once you get several recordings, take them to a lawyer who specializes in consumer rights / FDCPA litigation. You shouldn't have to pay anything, and you may have a very worthwhile lawsuit on your hands.
While this is definitely sound advice from both of you, I would like to point out that recording telephone calls isn't as cut-and-dry as it may seem as there are specific laws from state to state governing when you can and cannot do so. Using my home state of Pennsylvania as an example, it is very much illegal to record telephone conversations without the consent of both parties. (This doesn't apply to voicemail/answering machine messages, in case that question should come up.) I strongly recommend that if the OP is going to go this route, he should research the "wiretapping" laws of his state so that he doesn't inadvertently create unnecessary problems for himself.
i am in Ohio and he is in Indiana. I think that i can record with out a two party consent ,but i will check to make sure .thanks all so much.
Good point. Do your research first Ruger, but I don't think Ohio is one of those states that requires two-party consent.
ok so i sent mr. shank a letter ( certified ) stating that he is required by law to follow the FDCPA guide lines an that he has had contact information on me for over three years.also that i would be filing a complaint with the FTC and the Attorney General and that there was no reason to go to outside contact information.i got a call from him stating that he got my letter and since he is the original creditor he was not bound by FTC or FDCPA an that he could call anyone that he wanted to.i did some research an it seem,s he is some what correct as far as not being under the guide lines of the FTC an the FDCPA ,but is there some guide lines about his abusive collection action,s.there has to be some guide lines for him to follow,he knew that he was being taped so he denied the fact that he was trying to embarrass me in order to get me to pay him. i dont have any money.if you Google his name he has a bit of a history.
If he is indeed the original creditor (that means that he works directly for the credit union and NOT for a company that the credit union hired), then he is correct in saying that the FDCPA does not apply to him. However, if he is contacting other people and discussing your account history with them, then that sounds like a breach of your privacy. I would go through the roof if one of my creditors called my friends and told them anything about my account! Moreover, harassment is often (but not always) defined as something like "contacting someone with the intent of causing annoyance or alarm" -- which to me sounds an awful lot like calling your friends for the purpose of embarrassing you. I would recommend finding a good consumer-rights lawyer in your area to talk with. Any lawyer worth talking to will be willing to spend at least a small amount of time talking with you to find out if you have a case. Although you may not necessarily have a FDCPA-related case, you might be in line for some civil damages due to his reprehensible conduct. Or not -- there's really no way I can say.
