Please Advise - Collections

[Emrld]

I really could use some advice on how to deal with a situation.

A collection company keeps insiting on calling . . . this is after I have informed them the person they are looking for has not lived at the phone number since 2002, remove the number from the list.
About every 2 -3 weeks after I will come home to 1-4 messages from the same company looking for my ex-boyfriend. At first I called back to ask they remove the number . . .now I just delete them once I hear the number/ company name/ who they are calling for. On occassion they will reach me and I tell them he hasn't been at the number since 2002.

I know that once you tell a company to not call a number they are supposed to respect that and not call anymore.
What actions should I take? This is getting really old.

NOTE: This is a request for advice for those with knowledge of the proper actions to take. I know the people doing the calling are just doing their job by calling the name/ number they are given from the company . . .every message and person I have spoken to has been polite . . .and usually even apologize for interupting my evening . . .this is not a thread to discuss anything other than actions I can leagally, ethically, morally take to get the calls to stop.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, if you report them to the department of consumer affairs, you will have a paper trail and an unbiased third party witnessing your requests. An easy thing to do would be to report them, and make them jump through a bunch of hoops with CA. Then if they kept calling you, you'd have proof of harrassment and could take them to small claims court and sue them for harrassment.

If it were me, I'd probably start from there.

[Jewels]

Do you know any information regarding the ex's whereabouts? Do you know a phone number they could try reaching him at, or where he works? If you do, just pass that info along to the collection people.

[Shabo]

You also might want to consult a lawyer. If you ask someone to stop calling you, and they continue, that is harassing behavior, even if they are being polite about it. Definitely report them to the CA, maybe the Better Business Bureau as well, but asking a lawyer for advice would help too. Also, if you have a forwarding number for your ex, they might leave you alone then. But chances are, if you split 5 years ago, you won't.

[crazylegs]

You could just change your telephone number...

[Banrion]

If you have the company's name and telephone#, you can probably find their main address without too much trouble. Send a certified cease and desist letter return receipt requested. This site can help you write one: http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/cease-and-desist-letter/?pid=googleppc-cease_us-cease_a1-s-ggkey_cease%20and%20desist%20letter&&s_kwcid=cease %20and%20desist%20letter|710212463

If they continue to contact you after you receive the return receipt, keep a log & don't answer the calls. This gives you concrete fire power should you want to take it further legally through the FTC.

[Qaeria]

Writing a cease and desist letter is your best shot. I don't know what country you are in, and the laws vary from country to country, however you have grounds for filing a harassment complaint if you are in the UK or Canada, especially since you have asked them to stop. The letter as mentioned at the beginning will allow the complaint to carry some weight. Consult a lawyer about how to go about composing the letter.

[MadonnaC]

Check this site out

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/...ollectors.html

[marasbaras]

Do you know any information regarding the ex's whereabouts? Do you know a phone number they could try reaching him at, or where he works? If you do, just pass that info along to the collection people.

I would strongly suggest not doing this. This is between your ex and the collection agency.

Based on the site linked previously (fair debt), I'd send them written notice to cease. Send it via registered mail with return receipt. Keep the records.

[Jewels]

I would strongly suggest not doing this. This is between your ex and the collection agency.

Based on the site linked previously (fair debt), I'd send them written notice to cease. Send it via registered mail with return receipt. Keep the records.

See, I had this same thing happen to me. My now ex had gone off to Iraq, and before he left he had changed all his contact info to mine. While he was gone I got a call from his student loans company, I explain that he is fighting overseas, they confirm that and put a hold on his payments. He comes back and didn't start making the loan payments. Since they had my phone number, they started calling me trying to get in touch with him. In the end I gave them his info, just so they would stop eating up my minutes on my cell phone trying to reach him. He was angry about this, of course, but the calls to me stopped.

[Emrld]

I appreciate all of the advice.

Qaeria - if you look at the upper right corner at the top of my posts . . .it states that my location is Texas - yes, I am one of the few that have an honest answer and show a real part of my location. (It's a big state after all)

If I get another call I will send a certified letter. At the moment I have gotten a few days peace from them.

[workerbee222]

I was getting calls to my cell phone for someone else who had bounced a check to a restaurant an hour away.

The collection agency had told me the name of the person they were looking for, and they refused to believe me when I told them theyhad the wrong number.

I looked up his phone number in the White Pages, and called them back and gave it to them. Turns out his number was very close to mine. I did tell the collection agancy that before they harrass another person like they had me, they might want to check the LOCAL PHONE BOOK for the name of the person they were trying to reach.

[Reyneth]

You also might want to consult a lawyer. If you ask someone to stop calling you, and they continue, that is harassing behavior, even if they are being polite about it.

It depends. Outside/3rd party collection agencies - yes. First party collectors? Nope. Annoying, yes. But if the debt is owed to that company specifically (as far as I have learned) it's not considered harassment if they follow other specific regulations.

[Eric the Grey]

I was getting calls to my cell phone for someone else who had bounced a check to a restaurant an hour away.

The collection agency had told me the name of the person they were looking for, and they refused to believe me when I told them theyhad the wrong number. (...)

Oooh, I had that happen. It was about a year and a half after I got the number I have now, I started getting calls for some woman. I told them they had the wrong number, and when they repeated back the number they called, it was mine. They refused to believe at first that they had the wrong number, but after a few calls, I got tired of it and threatened them with the police, and it stopped.

I also received a call from a Detective looking for the same woman. He asked a few questions and never called me again.

Quote:
Quoth Shabo
You also might want to consult a lawyer. If you ask someone to stop calling you, and they continue, that is harassing behavior, even if they are being polite about it.

It depends. Outside/3rd party collection agencies - yes. First party collectors? Nope. Annoying, yes. But if the debt is owed to that company specifically (as far as I have learned) it's not considered harassment if they follow other specific regulations.

I have a hard time believing that any law would protect a company calling the wrong person to try and collect a debt. If said person lived there, it would be different. Once they are told this fact, they should be required to respect it, unless they can prove otherwise.


Eric the Grey

[PepperElf]

it also works even if it IS your account they're calling over.

One of my co-workers had an issue like that... I'm not sure on the exact circumstances, but I think the company was calling her repeatedly and threatening to send the account to collections. Even though she was making payments.

Turns out the law was on her side. The payments she was sending in was less than what they wanted, but since she was still paying them.... it was determined that *their* actions weren't legal & they had to stop harassing her with all the calls & threats.

--------------------------
and after i wrote this i was talking to someone who told me about the hard time he had with a certian computer company (rhymes with hell) about his payments.

he'd send in the amount requested 5 days before due... or rather, a month and 5 days, cos he was actually ahead on the monthy payments. they still somehow claimed he was late and began charging him late fees, even after acknowledging they'd received payment. he had to talk to their legal department twice (and mention his own company's legal department)... and that's about when they finally figured out that he didn't own them any extra money.

Yeesh. (and that's another reason why i buy my computers out-right...cos they'll gnaw on you like a rabid dog on a bone for every last dollar, apparently even when you're not behind in payments)