collector calling and leaving messages for a relative!!

[spoiler]

Sorry tried searching...but have not found anything. I'm sure this question has been asked before...

I had a message left on my answering machine today that said "This message is for (my name) I am calling in reference to an in law of yours (his name) If you could relay a message to call me my number is ________ and again my name is James. Thank You.

I googled the number. It's a pay day loan place. I told my sister to stay away from those places...I guess they didn't feel they had an option.

anyway, Is this okay for them to call me and ask to relay a message??!! is it okay to tell them that I don't need to know my other relatives business and that they can never call me again??

I do not want to call my sister and tell her collectors are after her. It will crush her that I know this.

[E. Normis Debtor]

Unless there is some kind of law in your state prohibiting their calling you, they can continue to call and telling them to stop won't have any effect.

Their calling you is an intentional way of getting her attention.

Some payday loan lenders can be brutal in their collection efforts, including showing up at your or your sisters place of employment and sharing with anyone who will listen their purpose for being there.

[newbie7069]

Spoiler: not this will help, or is even enforcable, but here is an excerpt from an FTC opinion letter "Atterberry"

The Act permits communicating with neighbors in connection with collection of a debt (absent a consumer's specific consent) only for the purpose of determining the debtor's location as defined in Section 803 (7). If the debt collector already knows the location of the debtor, contacting neighbors of the debtor is inappropriate. Specifically, requesting neighbors to convey messages to the debtor is not permitted by the Act.

One would assume that if you can't ask a neighbor to relay a message you can't ask a relative. At least that's how it should work

[direred]

Yeah, but that's about the FDCPA. The pay loan place is an OC and most of the FDCPA doesn't apply to them.

[E. Normis Debtor]

Newbie, a payday loan lender would be an original creditor. The FDCPA does not apply to original creditors.

[newbie7069]

SO what about the FTC Act? I had found this a awhile back while researching on the FTC website.

http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255580

It specifically addresses OCs harrassing debtors families/neighbors, etc.

[spoiler]

While theCommission cannot pursue such creditors under the FDCPA, it has done so under theFederal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) in the past, and will continue to do so in thefuture as appropriate cases present themselves.

Well I think this is really good info! The least I can do is call them and tell them that they are not allowed to call anymore. I will also tell them that if they call again and leave a message, the message will be deleted and I WILL NEVER relay messages between them and my brother in law.

If it continues I will complain to the bbb and the ftc and send them copies of the complaints. Or maybe I will just call them 10 times a day and anoy the heck out of em! I got nothin' better to do.

[spoiler]

Okay called the 1-866 # it says the name of the company is "Credit Protection Depot"

Sounds like a CA to me! I can't find any info when I google. No info on BBB either.

[nolo]

Well I think this is really good info! The least I can do is call them and tell them that they are not allowed to call anymore. I will also tell them that if they call again and leave a message, the message will be deleted and I WILL NEVER relay messages between them and my brother in law.

If it continues I will complain to the bbb and the ftc and send them copies of the complaints. Or maybe I will just call them 10 times a day and anoy the heck out of em! I got nothin' better to do.

Spoiler,

Even though it's true, the FDCPA does not apply to OC's, there are laws against telephone harassment. If you send them a letter, certified mail with return receipt, informing them that you do not want any more harassing phone calls from them, they will most likely stop calling. I've used this technique a number of times with good results. If they continue to harass you, just keep building a paper trail and include your state AG in the loop. They WILL stop calling.

[jasen]

Yeah, FDCPA has no bearing on sending a c&d to a company. Harassment is illegal regardless.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

As has already been said, here, the FDCPA does not apply.

Second, if wha you relayed is the exact message they left then thay are being unusually professional about their contact...consider yourself lucky. In any event, they did not reveal the reason for their call; you searched to find out "her business".

Third, if they are calling you it's becasue yoru sister gave them your name, number and relationship...in other words, she gave her permission. It should not come as a surprise to her, if she is behind in her payments to them, that they are starting to call the people she left as references specifically for that purpose.

You may be able to force them to stop calling based on your state/local laws regarding telephone harassment but this is not and FDCPA matter...if you really want these calls to stop then your sister needs to step up and not ignor this...these payday loan places are bottom feeders of the worst kind but those who use them do so of their own accord.

[newbie7069]

Third, if they are calling you it's becasue yoru sister gave them your name, number and relationship...in other words, she gave her permission. It should not come as a surprise to her, if she is behind in her payments to them, that they are starting to call the people she left as references specifically for that purpose.

Not neccessarily. We had an OC who was repeatedly calling my SIL's ex-husband and asking him to give us a message. They've been divorced about 12 yrs---6 years before we ever started a business relationship with the OC. They were also calling her and my MIL. Our relatives were NOT listed as references, they had obviously been using other methods to track down relatives. They even called our neighbor, whom they admitted to when they spoke to him that they had researched house deed ownership to get his contact info. They obviously had our contact info, but were using the other phone calls in a pure attempt to harrass/embarrass us by harrassing them.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

I can't be 100% sure in this particular case since I haven't seen the contract the sister signed but I'd confidently bet a lot of $ that the sister gave the name, address and phone number of at least three references in her application and also very likely gave them permission, in the contract she signed, to call those references if the creditor wanted to do so - all that woudl be standard procedure for "Pay Day Loan", "Rent to Own" and similar bottom feeding businesses like them.

Any OC (or CA) can (and the really agressive ones will) use various tactics to find and/or pressure debtors by going though friends, neighbors and other third parties - but in the case of a pay day loan lender it is, as I said, standard procedure to ask for those references exactly so that they can do what this one is doing.