Blaze Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Texas---Mar. of 2011, someone called a neighbor of ours with a message for my husband. They told her he was to call them within 3 hrs. or the sheriff's office would attempt to serve papers to him. We felt confident that this was a bluff and didn't make the call. Sure enough, no papers were served. I ran a check on the phone number the caller gave for us to call and it was A&N Financial Firm in Calif. (call came from an Atlanta phone number though). Seems to me, this is a violation of the FDCPA. I don't have any conversation on tape, but I have my neighbor's written/signed note concerning this. Should I report this to the FCC, someone else or not at all? My husband and I had a similar situation--but worse--a few yrs. ago. Someone used the cell phone of a sheriff's dept. employee and called our home leaving a msg. that she was "with (our) county" and that she needed to talk to us regarding a felony against our son. Our son had lost his job and couldn't make payments on his vehicle (which my husband had cosigned on) and we know it was someone trying to collect the balance on that. The bank was calling at the same time. That ended up with the real employee (who's county-property phone was used) losing his job, but the sheriff's dept. never could find the woman who actually made the call. We're still steamed about it, especially since this woman also called a family friend of ours (who was listed as a reference when my son bought the vehicle) and left the same msg. We have probably run out of time to pursue that (happened in Dec. '05/Jan. '06), but I'd like to know if I should try to do something about this call our neighbor got last March. Any thoughts, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BV80 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 There's more than one violation of the FDCPA. .The only way they can communicate with a 3rd party is to get location information, but they cannot reveal that it is in relation to a debt. I have a feeling that revealing to a 3rd party that they're going to serve papers is a violation.They also cannot threaten to take an action they don't intend to take. They obviously did not intend to deliver papers.I'd get an attorney. Your neighbor is a witness. There could be violations of TX debt collection statutes, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTO429 Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 I would also argue willful noncompliance as I am sure they know the law, but figure you don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingifr Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 As long as your neighbor is willing to testify as to the circumstances of the written note's creation you have a pretty strong FDCPA case against the CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTO429 Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 And it would be better for your neighbor to testify in person to the court as any written letter to the court could be construed as hearsay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Thanks to all who responded to this. I appreciate the advice. I'm still wondering though if I actually have a case. The law says the collectors can't discuss the debt with a third party, and I don't believe they did. The caller just asked if my neighbor knew my husband and asked (told?) her to tell him that my husband was "to call within a 3 hr. time frame or the sheriff's office will attempt to serve papers (to him)". They gave her a number to call (which I looked up online as belonging to that financial firm) and gave a case number. My neighbor wrote this all down, put the date and time on it, and signed it before getting it to us. I don't believe the caller told my neighbor what this was about. Also, couldn't this company just say they WERE going to attempt to serve papers, but changed their minds or whatever, and therefore get around part about not making threats they can't follow through on? And it IS something they could legally do, I suppose, after following the steps for it. I know they were bluffing this time, but... I we decide to pursue this, could we go the small claims court route???Thanks again for help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1stStep Posted August 11, 2011 Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 There is an FDCPA violation with the threat to serve papers unless you contact them in 3 hours...15 USC 1692e - debt collector cannot use false or misleading tactics to collect a debt. To better button it up, see if there is a court case open against you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted August 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 Thanks. Just how do I go about doing that?....checking to see if there is a court case open against my husband? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted August 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I just checked our county's online record search and it showed no records of any court cases for my husband. No one has served papers either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1stStep Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 If you can print out the screen from the court, that documents there is no court case against you. Combine with declaration from your neighbor, you've got a nice FDCPA suit.One more thing- write a letter to document the FDCPA violations. This way, they can never claim that they were unaware of them. **************************Here is A&N's address:A & N Financial 26025 Newport Rd Menifee, CA 92584 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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