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Can an original creditor call your supervisor?

I have read that collection agencies must follow FDCPA, but what about the original creditor?

Can they disclose (if any) information about the debt?

Can you site any laws or regulations?

Thx!

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:35 pm Subject:

Unfortunately, the OC's are not bound by the FDCPA. You may want to check your state laws, though, as some states have laws on the books that apply to the OC's.

What state do you live in?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:27 pm Subject:

IL.

What would be the purpose of them calling your supervisor other than to embarrass you? Isn't that a form of harassment?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:57 pm Subject:

Anybody? Help!

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:21 pm Subject:

In IL creditors are classified by the license they hold: either A) Consumer Installment (regular loans); B) Payday; or C) Sales Finance (credit cards, car loans, etc). Each license has different laws pertaining to the license, so it will depend which kind of license the original creditor holds.

The collection laws can be found here, depending on license:
Consumer Installment - Credit Practices
Payday Loan Reform Act - (collection practices covered under Article 4)
Sales Finance - Credit Practices

They all pretty much say the same thing. Regarding contacting your employer, the laws say that they cannot:

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:28 pm Subject:

If the employer is not party to the contract, what would be the purpose of contacting a person's employer, other than to embarass them?

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:04 pm Subject:

They really should not be calling just to share information about your debt. If their sole purpose is the "embarrasment factor" then you might be able to get them on violations of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Privacy Act, which is a Federal law.

However, there are some valid reasons a creditor might contact an employer that is not solely for embarrassment.

For example, many times a customer will get their coworker to cover for them and say "S/he doesn't work here anymore" when we call. In that case I would call H/R to verify if the individual's employment has indeed been terminated. If so, I will update our records and remove the phone #. Many times I find the coworker was indeed lying, so that is why we go to H/R to get it directly from the horse's mouth and not just anybody that happens to answers the phone.

Another example might be if we need to send in a wage garnishment. We will call payroll to find out exactly how to route it so it gets to the right place/person. There have been issues before with the customer intercepting the mail and throwing it in the garbage, so we want to make sure that won't happen.

Another example has been if the customer is evading summons and our only recourse is to serve them at work. In that case we might try to find out if the customer works on site or out in the field, so that we know where to send the process server.

So there are some legitimate reasons a creditor might contact the employer. Solely to embarass the customer really should not be one of them.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:26 pm Subject:

A friend at work confided in me that she owes another person (not a company) money (like $500) and that person threatened to call her supervisor. I can't imagine what the purpose of calling her supervisor would accomplish. Is that even legal?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:44 am Subject:

anybody?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:30 pm Subject:

What can the supervisor do about getting the money back. It is more embrassing than anything. Plus they maybe using the threat to make your co-worker pay up sooner.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:47 pm Subject:

That's what I thought too. I just can't understand the logic why someone would do that if it has no effect on the situation.

Was wondering if it was legal b/c if they did call her supervisor, that is disclosing personal information. Hmmm...

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:27 pm Subject:

It seems to me that I read somewhere that an individual is not bound by creditor laws and can call anyone they want to about a debt. I can't remember exactly where I read it though, so I really can't vouch for the reliability of the source.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:57 pm Subject:

I would think they can call anyone, but can only discuss the debit with only the people they are looking for or any one authorized to speak on the account. For example....
My brother had an account with Chrysler Financial for purchasing a car that was a lemon. They contacted me several time about his debt, they even went so far as to tell me his payment history and everything. I was not authorized to speak on his behalf. I documented all of the phone calls and conversations as well as names of the people I spoke with and time of day. I even filed a complaint with the BBB, to which they respond, since I was not authorized they could not answer me. When I responded to this with my documented information, they contacted my brother with a settlement on his account. I think they allow him to return the car and remove all negative remarks on his credit report.

Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:10 pm Subject:

Financial privacy laws only apply to "financial institutions", which are usually licensed and generally hold themselves out to the public as a lender.

An individual person is not bound by those laws, unless they are in the business of regularly extending credit. So in the co-workers case above, the person really wouldn't be breaking any laws by calling a supervisor. Although I don't think it would accomplish much.

However, you should ask the co-worker if that person is charging interest ... in some states it is illegal to charge interest without first obtaining a loan license.

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