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drowningindebt · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:07 am Subject: calling my business

hi
I am self employed and have a small business store front. I get several calls here at work and have asked them to quit calling me at work and they reply "you mean YOUR business YOU own?" Yes I do own it but it is where I work. I cannot deal with collection calls while trying to make a living. Are they allowed to do this just because I am my own employer

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:36 am Subject:

Send them a Cease and Desist letter....cite the phone number(s) they are calling and tell them to stop calling, per the FDCPA.

There is a cease contact letter in the Do It Yourself section at the top of the page.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:41 am Subject:

Are the debts that they are calling on business accounts? If so, FDCPA would not apply.

However if these are personal debts, it doesnt matter who owns the business. If it is inconvient for you to take calls at your work, they should be able to restrict the calls just by you saying so. When I was collecting, if a debtor stated that they could not receive calls a work, we stopped immediaately. Home calls had to be in writing.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:20 am Subject:

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:01 pm Subject:

Whether or not they are business accounts, the cease communications letter must be observed.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:32 pm Subject:

I thought if it was a business debt a C&D was useless.

I know I'll catch hell for this but I believe they should be able to contact you at work if you own the business. The reason for them not being allowed to contact debtors at work (after informing the CA you cannot receive calls at work) is so the debtor does not get fired for receiving phone calls if they are not allowed to receive them.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:18 pm Subject:

Evenin' LG -

I gotta disagree with you re: permitting calls @ your business. This should be [is?] no different than calling at a place of employment or at home. There's nothing at all that a CA needs to say over the phone that can't be said just as well in a letter.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:16 am Subject:

I agree with Wulf on this one. The law also mentions not being able to call at home if it is inconvenient, so if calling your place of employment (even if you own it) is inconvenient, it applies. Especially since CAs openly admits they use the telephone simply to harass a debtor into paying. I have one call every dang day, it is totally annoying. This company refuses to work with me on a payment plan, so they call every day. Even when I point out that my situation hasn’t changed from yesterday, I get a smug little, “Talk to you tomorrow” on the phone. I am sorry, but if a CA KNOWS you won’t pay (and even gets to get his jollies on writing ‘refusal to pay’) and still continues to call, in my book that is harassment…they know they are not getting paid, so they will just call you until you can’t stand it anymore.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:58 am Subject:

Drowning in debt, please ignore the guest comment.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:25 am Subject:

If guest wishes to have an alternate point of view that is completly OK. However calling someone a "deadbeat" is name calling and a personal attack and it is not OK.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:57 am Subject:

Law Student....

The FDCPA does not apply to business debts, only personal or consumer debts.

Found this quote...

Congress passed and the president signed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 1978 (Carter Administration). Congress acted to end the abuses and harassment occurring within the consumer debt collection industry. At that time, there was no perception that abuses and/or harassment was occurring within the business debt collection industry that warranted the enactment of federal legislation. Instead, Congress believed and continues to believe that those who owe business or commercial debts are sophisticated enough to withstand or at least not be as threatened when faced with business debt collection abuse or harassment. Thus, the FDCPA does not protect a person who is alleged to owe a business or commercial debt.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:57 am Subject:

I think it should be said that collection calls from the creditor and from a collection agency are two completely different things. It's important to know exactly who you are dealing with. I am not sure that you can C&D your creditor. I would think that would be seen as an act of holstility and being sued would follow if the amount of the debt was worth it.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:34 am Subject:

No...FDCPA does not apply the to OC in consumer debts. You can ask them not to call but you cannot legally stop them from calling.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:12 pm Subject:

Interesting discussion here. I can see both points, but my take on it is even though our friend owns the business, dealing with collection calls impedes their right to earn a living--and if they can't earn a living, they can't pay their bills, right? Just my thoughts on it.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:54 pm Subject:

OK..if this is a personal debt calling the OP, she can C&D them from calling her at work, if it is not convient to take such calls at work. However, if it is a business related debt, she cannot C&D them. She would need to make provision to make calls to them at times that would work for her...kind of beating them to the punch so to speak.

drowningindebt · Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:32 pm Subject:

Hi
I must have missed it where they called me a "deadbeat". It is easy to say that when you do not know my side of the situation. You can assume that I just refuse to pay because I don't want to give the money up. That is not the case. When my husband was fired and we lost insurance we had to pay out of pocket for my sons medical bills. COBRA was more than we could afford having NO income. When he did find a new job it was for 20k less per year. We have had to cut down on where our money goes. I've asked for a payment plan but they will not offer one that we can afford. Before filing for bankruptcy we plan on seeking counseling with cccs. In the meantime, they began calling us both at work. My work happens to be the store that I own. If the calls conflict with operating my business and I have to shut down then I will have even less money to give. So that is why I don't understand why they can call me at my work. I guess I'll try the c&d and if they plan on a lawsuit for that then bankruptcy might be the only option. It seems like if they wanted the money they would take anything I could give but they only want more than I have.

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