Unfair Debt Collection Practices
By feralcat
@feralcat (426)
Canada
December 28, 2006 7:38am CST
My roomate has been in financial trouble for the past few months to the point of having to file bakruptcy. Back in July an employee from this credit card's collection department called but I was here alone and answered the phone. This person seized my telephone line for about 45 minutes. I unplugged the phone from the main source in the basement and still he would remain on the line. I told him twice to get leave a message and release the telephone to which he said since it was not under my name he had every right to do so.
In August a plain piece of white paper came in the mail with a fictitious name and telephone number which by law constitutes fraudulent mail. I have been running round in circles to have this traced to the originator which my only recourse now is to take it to the police for investigation.
In September another employee from the same company called. I hung up and then proceeded tocall right away and started yelling at me which I yelled back and then he proceeded to insult me with offensive name calling; again this is harassment under criminal law.
Now here in Canada there are laws against these types of actions but try to voice your concerns and take action against these companies; it's quite pathetic actually when you try to take action against such treatment.
Are the laws against such harassment of unfair debt collection treatment different in the US and the rest of the world or do you has a everyday hard working citizen of your country have to shut up, take this kind of treatment or can you actually do something about it?
I even voiced my concerns with the so-called Minister of Industry who reading his profile, supposedly upholds laws to provide fair treatment of consumers (big joke). So where you are, can you stand up for yourself or does the big man of greed win hands down?
2 people like this
26 responses
@snowflake5 (1579)
• United States
28 Dec 06
Do you have a Citizens Advice Bureau where you are? They usually give very good frer impartial advice and usually negotiate with creditors on your behalf. Good luck!
@snowflake5 (1579)
• United States
28 Dec 06
That should have said "they give good free impartial advice" Sorry about the typo.
Citizens Advice Bureau are a charity here in the UK, and I think they have branches abroad.
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Next time this person calls and doesn't want to hang up, play dirty. Place your phone over to your tv, and crank as loud as you can go. Or know any kids that's your neighbors. Have them talk on the phone with this guy. Just be irritating, play the game of Simon Said with this perosn, repeat everything he does. If he's human he will hang up after few seconds of this. Just make sure it's something irritating on tv. Good Luck with this situation, If all else fails tell your room mate to change the number. Or get a phone in your name. This isn't fair to you.
@ChewySpree (1832)
• United States
28 Dec 06
You might want to check out this website:
http://www.creditboards.com
It has a lot of good, free information about credit - managing it, cleaning it up, dealing with collectors, etc. Good luck!
@flutterby74 (75)
• United States
28 Dec 06
I would start recording the phone conversations (if legal. Only some states in the US allow only 1 party to agree to recording phone calls) I would document everything and then turn it in to the prosecutor. I'm not sure about Canada, but if you have a pretty good case like you have in the US, you could prosecute them. Actually, once you tell them to stop calling and they continue, I believe they can face a hefty fine.
@feralcat (426)
• Canada
28 Dec 06
Without their permission you are not allowed here to record the conversation adn if you did it would not be permissible in court.
I have documents of dates and so on but no lawyer here will deal with such matters and I have decided to file civil prosecution on my own behalf. It's scary to have to go to this lenght but I've come this far that I can't back down ow.
@sexyangel (15)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Debt collectors have the right to collect payments from the debtors but they should act in a good manner. Some collectors are harassing the debtors to the point of showing disrespect. In our country, some people are trying to harass also their clients just to pay their debts. Everytime they call their clients on the phone, they yell at them and say some bad words to them which shows disrespect. What they do is not really allowed in our country. I remember when someone is calling at our house regarding collections, I talk to them in a nice way but when they yell at me, I yell them back too. They can actually talk to me in a nice way. Am I right? We know that most of us really have debts but sometimes there comes a point that we are having financial problem that is why we find so hard to pay. They should understand also our situation in life.
@marsh5963 (1)
• United States
21 Aug 10
I am an ACA certified Professional Collection Specialist. In other words, I am a debt collector. May I say, there are a few people in my industry, that do not follow the rules or the law. In turn, they make all collectors look bad. In the USA, Collectors are governed by the FDCPA.(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) I suggest you download a free copy of it from the internet.
Although I can not speak for all collectors, I can speak for myself. The company I work for is very customer service. When we call a consumer, we call him sir or her mam. And, we listen. In most cases, there are valid reasons for a person not paying their debt. Unless the collector listens, he or she will not be successful in helping the consumer or the client.
In your situation, the professional collector, once finding out your roomate was not there, should have left his name and phone number and terminated the call.
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• India
29 Dec 06
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@shooie (4984)
• United States
29 Dec 06
why don't you have a tape recorder ready and when they call back say this will be recorded. Let them know in advance and ask them if they understand that the conversation is being recorded. That way you have a recording of what is going on and it isn't illegal because you told them it was being recorded and they know about it.
@blossomingflower (636)
• India
29 Dec 06
It's not legal to call you and disturb. From the caller ID note down his phone no. and take legal action. First of all you have not borrowed from them and so, you are not responsible to answer if somebody borrowed money from the department, they can send a registered mail to his address. That's the legal option they can do. Or they go against whatever surities or guarantees they got while loaning the money to him. You can even ask compensation for the harrassment meted out to you. Best of luck.
@kavita23 (2995)
• India
29 Dec 06
All they need is your name and address. The agency will simply match those two items, and BINGO! They got you.
My advice? If you already have bad credit just ignore them, wait for a collection agent to call you, then try negotiating a payment plan.
If you have a clean record now, it doesn't make sense to ruin it over a $330 debt. Try to get it paid off.
@nuffsed (1271)
•
29 Dec 06
I don't understand why you are tied to one phone line?
You should be glad you do not live in Bombay, they have a habit of sending the local heavy transvestites to harrass and shame you. Now that would be a sight to see. lol
Life just ain't fair!! Get smart dude.
@honeyd81 (17)
• United States
29 Dec 06
I think that it depends on what state you are in for the US. I know in the state of Tennesee it is illegal to record a phone conversation if the ohter party does not know about it. Before every phone call I get, there is a recording stating that the conversation might be recorded and if I have a problem with it, I need to let the operator know.
Also, in the US it is illegal for debt collectors to harass the people that they are calling. If it were me, I'd just hang up on them.
@sexysilver (928)
• United States
29 Dec 06
If this is your roomates' debt collectors, can't you just tell them that your not (insert your roommates name) & to stop harrassing you? People were calling me over bills my husband owed (before we married) and I told them if they didn't stop harrassing me that I would sue them & their company & they would be working for me for all of 5 minutes before I fired them for bad business manners! They apologized & asked for his #, I told them after the way I was treated they took take their apology & shove it where the sun doesn't shine & if they called back I would make good on that promise.
After that the phone calls only politley asked for my hubby, & if I said he wasn't home/ it wasn't his phone, they apologized & hung up. Eventually the calls stopped.
@am99gt (187)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Even though it is illegal for them to do that..it still goes on everyday all day long. We had a debt that we were paying out on every month on time. It was a medical bill then right around tax return time they called and demanded payment in full. If we didn't pay in full they would take us to court. They did take us to court but they lost. I guess they thought we wouldn't show up and fight. In the court papers they stated that we broke an agreement to pay in full(we never made that agreement) they had no proof and we were there with our old checks showing payment made on time every month. We still had to pay the debt off but the collection charge was taken off. After that I never heard a word from them.
@jen20619 (1300)
• Ireland
29 Dec 06
You should get in touch with citizens advice they will help and give you professional advice.Im so sorry to hear about your troubles.I hope after you contact citizens advice things improve for the best for you.Good luck
@pebbles_cubbie (3789)
• United States
29 Dec 06
i used to work for a debt collection agency. and you can not do any of those things you have stated. contact the FDCPA that's the main people to deal with. he had no right to seize your phone line and especially not send mail like that. it has to have their address and company initials on the front. they can not yell or use offensive language to you and usually the phone calls are recorded by the company. he can't call that much either. depends on the state you live in some are more strict than others. canada it may be different you'll have to check your laws there. you dont have to put up with it and here in the US if they do that and you can prove it then your friend won't have to pay the debt cause they harrased you and lied to you. by law they cant even talk to a third party such as a roomate here.
