Sent C&D to CA and they keep calling

[brighteyes1977]

I sent a C&D to Nationwide on 11/18/2009 via fax. I know they got it because I received a phone call about 10 minutes after I sent it and told them to go look in their fax inbox.....The guy said sorry for calling and he would send the letter off to his boss.

Now I'm getting calls 3-4x a day either recorded or an actual person. The live person is looking for my DH to verify location, the recorded message just wants him to call back.

Did I mess up with the C&D? I just put my name on it, but it's my credit card, not his. I think at one point I had a card with his name on it, but he wasn't a co-signer or anything. Please let me know what my next steps need to be.

BE

[BrokeBob]

Just to be sure, send another C&D CMRRR. That way, you have PROOF! Log, or record, all their calls. Take pictures of the caller ID. If they call after they receive the letter, SUE!

[jezter6]

I sent a C&D to Nationwide on 11/18/2009 via fax. I know they got it because I received a phone call about 10 minutes after I sent it and told them to go look in their fax inbox.....The guy said sorry for calling and he would send the letter off to his boss.

Now I'm getting calls 3-4x a day either recorded or an actual person. The live person is looking for my DH to verify location, the recorded message just wants him to call back.

Did I mess up with the C&D? I just put my name on it, but it's my credit card, not his. I think at one point I had a card with his name on it, but he wasn't a co-signer or anything. Please let me know what my next steps need to be.

BE

Since you faxed it, you really have no proof that they got it.

You need to send it CMRRR and get a signature that it has been received.

Otherwise, if you try and fight out that they didn't comply with your C&D - then what do you really have to prove they got it?

Also, what was the exact words that you used to demand the C&D?

[brighteyes1977]

Yes, I guess I have no proof that they got it, but I know that they did. They have not contacted me, but they are looking for my husband.

My exact words are from a letter posted on this site. "I would also like to request, in writing that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communications with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS."

After re-reading that paragraph, they should NOT be calling my husband either! So really if I did have proof, which I do, I have a fax confirmation that printed out after I sent it, they are in violation.

I will send another letter through the mail. Should I mention the letter that I sent via fax and not that any further calls will be an open invitation to sue them?

[BrokeBob]

That's not a C&D. That is the hypothetical limited C&D, which does not seem to have been confirmed in federal court. TrueQ uses that in his DV letters, and I have started to as well, based on Wisconsin state laws.

A real C&D means you demand NO contact at all. Not even mail. You generally don't want to do that unless you are prepared for a law suit. I have sent out a few C&D letters. One was because of failure to validate for a couple of months. The others included demands for money, or else I will sue THEM. Don't send a C&D without a good reason. It forces them to go away or to sue. If you are scared of a suit, just don't do it.

[jezter6]

I agree with Bob. There's some here that advise the limited C&D is just as useful, but nobody has really been able to show pure and simple case law that shows someone suing over the limited C&D and winning a case.

Just because you tell them you think it's harrassment, doesn't make it so. Add to that your fax confirmation (which could mean a number of things), it's pretty weak.

I've seen some recommend in the letter that it's "inconvenient" for you to recieve calls at any time...the term inconvenient being something explicit in the FDCPA regarding phone communication, but I'd be very interested in seeing how a "it's convenient to call me at any place or any time" would stand up in court. In theory, it sounds good.

I also believe there's some more explicit wording regarding telling them that you're unable to receive calls at work that is more than "you cant call me at work."

[trueq]

and they have not.

You need to sue Nationwide. I am currently suing Nationwide (but not for phone calls).

Nationwide will not comply with law unless you sue them.

Nationwide only listens to the barrel of the lawsuit gun.

Then they whine and cry like babies they did nothing wrong.

Make them cry.

(An affidavit you faxed them the cease phone communication letter is sufficient in court of law, unless they say they did not get it. Then its up to a jury. If I was scumbag debt collector, I don't like those odds. So don't get hung up on "proof" unless you affidavit you sent it is challenged.)

[jezter6]

Unless you can find some case law where "don't call me" is sufficient, I think jumping into a lawsuit is very premature.

There's no OBVIOUS violation here until someone shows us one...with case law to back it up.

[debtfreein18]

Are they violating the law? Probably. Can you prove it in court? Maybe, but I personally would not sue with just a fax confirmation.

In you shoes I'd go back and send a full C&D and just to be safe I'd inlcude your husbands name on that (don't sign it though, you don't want them to have a copy of your signatures, it's amazing how it will suddenly appear on loan documents and contracts that you never actually signed...). Once you send that, if/when they contact you then keep records of said contact. I think it's something like $500 per call (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), so once you reach a nice amount that you feel is worth sueing over, go for it!

They ARE allowed to contact you once more after sending the C&D saying they received yoru C&D and will not bother you again. So the clock starts after that last contact.

As others have stated though, C&D's can trigger lawsuits so only do this if you are past SOL or are othewise confident that you can beat them in court if they sue you.