This evening a debt collector contacted a family member claiming that I owe a debt. Said family member has never lived with me. The debt collector stated the amount and nature of the alleged debt. I realize that spousal disclosure is permissible under the FDCPA. I am not, nor have I ever been, married. However, one of the first questions from the debt collector to my relative was "are you sparq's wife". My relative, out of shock, said "yes". I have instructed her to tell them (truthfully) that she is not my wife if they ever call back. Since she said that she is my wife, do I still have a reasonable action under the FDCPA? On one hand, the law states that disclosure to a spouse is permissible -- and I don't have a spouse. Frankly, there's no law requiring my relative to be truthful when some random stranger calls her on the phone. On the other hand, I can hear the debt collector arguing in court that they made a "reasonable" effort to determine whether or not I had a spouse. Any thoughts? Any relevant precedent?
Since she said answered "yes", I wouldn't think so. I think it would be tough to argue your case in court.
The consensus I'm getting from talking to several lawyers is that technically, it is a violation of the FDCPA. The onus is on the CA to rightfully determine whether or not the person to whom they are speaking is an authorized party. In choosing to rely on that person's answer, they've taken a reasonable measure to ensure as much, and accepted the risk of getting bad information. However, all of the lawyers felt it would be extraordinarily difficult to convince a judge to award the $1000 plus court costs given the circumstances. They said the CA basically had a strong defense in the matter, and suggested that I file a complaint with the Attorney General instead. I'm debating filing out of spite, but we'll see. The third party has informed them that she is NOT my spouse, and that they are not to contact her again. With a little luck, they'll call another two dozen times.
As infuriating as I'm sure this is, I'm kind of with Joshua on this one. Yes, they technically did violate the FDCPA, but your relative made an "honest mistake" just as I'm sure the CA will claim the same. Plus, if you really did push this all the way to Federal court, it's not going to look very good for you if you didn't exercize some modicum of effort to "correct" the CA's erroneous assumption (via certified letter, for example). If it's any small consolation, I once had a rather obnoxious CA law firm come after me for one of my old CC's. I sent them a DV letter CMRRR, yet they blatantly disregarded it and kept calling me every day anyway. Naturally, I made recordings of the messages left on my answering machine and took photographs of my caller ID and then proceeded to seek legal counsel in my area to initiate a lawsuit against them. Of all the attorneys I went to, only one would give me the time of day and he doesn't work on a contingency basis. In the end, I was forced to settle for sending a nastygram to the CA in question and they haven't bothered me since. On the other hand, if they're ever foolish enough to actually take me to court, I need only show the MDJ the copies of my letters and the signed return receipts and countersue for treble damages due to egregious violations of the PA Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act (it'd only net me $300 in statutory damages, but it'd be enough to tell the CA I'm not in the mood for their games).
