FDCPA section 806?

[Anonymous]

Last night, I was contacted by the collections department for First Union bank (which just bought out Wachovia Bank) regarding an old checking account my wife had with Wachovia prior to our marraige. First of all, the call was made via an answering machine type system, where you're placed in a call queue until an operator becomes available. I have heard that this is illegal in my state (North Carolina). Is it? Second, the caller would not identify himself, or what he was calling about. After my repeated requests, he finally gave his first name, and said he was calling about my wife's First Union accout. Not aware of the merger, I said she doesn't have a First Union accout. At this point, he threatened to call every 10 minutes until she came home, and made several unwarrented allegations that she was hiding information from me. I then requested to speak with his supervisor, which he denied. He then proceeded to accuse my wife of cheating on me, living a double life, and would "make our lives hell until she called him." Needless to say, I expect a full apology from First Union, but that's not enough. Do I have grounds to sue under FDCPA? Thanks!!

[admin]

Yes, not the very least of which is the harrassment and threats. However, you will have to prove you were harrassed. Phone conversations leave no written record.

From this link: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/creditorharassment.shtml, here are some tips for documenting abuse:

If a bill collector violates the FDCPA, try and see if you can get the illegal behavior on tape. Taping is permitted without the collector's knowledge in all states except CA, CT, DE, FL, IL, MD, MA, MI, MT, NH, PA, and WA. At the very least, record everything the bill collector says in some form of a written log.

[Edit by admin on Tuesday, July 2, 2002 @ 10:23 AM]