Is this considered Harassment from a Collection Company

Hi,

Welcome to the forums. The situation that has been described in your post should be considered an attempt to harass you by the collection agency.

If they are contacting you numerously, they need to specify the valid reason of their call. They are asking money from you but you have your legal rights as per the fdcpa law to know the exact calculation of your total debt.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/validation.html

Please send them a written letter through certified mail and 'return receipt requested' asking them to validate the said debt. They need to provide you the following

• Exact calculation of your total amount,
  
• The interest calculated,
  
• The agreement letter that the debt is legally owed by the collection agency,
  
• The statute of limitation
  
• A copy of the original signed loan agreement between the debtor and the original creditor establishing the debt between both the parties also has to be produced.
  

We built a new house 5 yrs ago and when we moved in the phone co gave us a new phone #. For 5 years we've received calls and mail from collection agencies for the person who had this phone # before us. The latest is Oxford Management who has called repeatedly for the past couple of week with a recorded message to call back and they're not the first company to do this. This morning, Sat, they called at 8:15 AM and woke my family. If they would just take 30 seconds and Google this person, as I did, they would find the phone # and address but instead they keep calling a phone # they had from 5 year old records. Without changing my phone # how can I get the harassing phone calls, for the debt of this person I don't know, to stop!

You can send them a C&D but when they sell it off, you'll have to do this over and over again. I know you don't want to do it but changing the phone number will end it completely (unless they give you another number from a debtor in collections). :twisted:

debt collectors are aggressive, and jerks. One even asked me if my elderly parents were close to dying, and would I get any money from it. They have no shame, and they lie. It's their job, to be nasty goons. I can just picture them, high-fiving each other and beating themselves on the chests like apes in their office, every time they upset someone. All I can say is, I hope that every one of them that has treated someone like that, loses their job and finds their miserable butt on the other side of things. lol.

Not to play devil's advocate here, but not ALL collectors are aggressive, jerks, nasty goons, etc. I realize that's not what you were trying to say, but your initial sentence is pretty much a blanket statement.

There are collectors out there who follow the fdcpa, treat debtors with respect, and work out payment arrangements. I'm sorry that you ran into one that was so rude to you - but they are not all like that. I have dealt with both types - bad and good - and for every really rotten one, there is at least one good one.

You are right, there are some good ones, or the occupation in general couldn't exist. The good ones have actually been negotiating with my settlement company; they really do want to settle the accounts and have been bending over backwards to get the business done. Most of the ones that have gotten through to me have been awful. I had to send C&D letters to two, and with one I even filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. In all those cases, they sent the account back to the original creditor rather than pursue it further. And in one of those cases, a different collector got it that is easier to work with. And in another, the original creditor offered me a settlement that was so unbelievably good, I am still in shock. So, blessings in disguise, I guess. But the nasty ones are BAD!! It just takes some time to learn how to deal with them.

February 2009 I loaned $500 to a receptionist (distressed over her car payments) of one of my suppliers. Before I sent the money I had asked her co-worker whether she was "good" for the loan; the reply was "yes." The following week, her car was repossessed and she request another $2300 and threatened to commit suicide; when I refused, she slammed the phone down. The following week she was at work as though nothing had happened. I told her co-worker about her desperate pleas.

I lost my job at the end of March 2009, and by August 2009 I had called her to see if she could pay me a portion of the $500 loan. She had "forgotten" about me and gave me numerous evasive tales. Since I didn't have her home phone number, I had to call her at work. Although she was cooperative, at first, she'd delay payments by weeks on end. When I'd call to see if she mailed me a money order or check, she'd tell me she sent it "yesterday," when, in fact, she mailed it after I called her by several days.

I've kept copies of the following: my original check to her with "$500.00 Loan" on the memo line, her money orders, her checks, and the personal and company envelopes.

Over two weeks ago, I called her at work to ask for another $50 payment; I scheduled it for last Friday, April 2, 2010. I called; another receptionist answered and said she wasn't in (which I knew was not true) and put me to her voice mail. When I didn't receive the $50 check by Tuesday, April 6, 2010, I called again, but this time the other receptionist became belligerent and said that I couldn't call her about "personal matters" at work. I said that I didn't have her phone number, and she yelled at me and hung up. I called her cell phone number and left a message; I asked if she could mail me the $50 payment. She immediately returned my call; she screamed at me and asked "why was I being so nice?" (what was that all about). She said she mailed $100 "yesterday" (here we go, again), which I have not received as of April 7, 2010.

She still owes $125. Is it harrassment when I call her for a payment twice a month or when she responds "yesterday" and I have to call her back? I'd prefer not to call her at work, but she went ballistic when she found out that I had her personal cell phone number. What should I do? Should I see if her boss (who is unaware of what she did on company time) can garnish her pay via a lawyer, which may be expensive? Is that harrassment, too? Or, should I take her to small claims court? Help!!!

Wow, that's a pickle. Let me ask you: when you made this loan, did you get anything in writing from her, such as a Promissary note, etc? If you did, you can always take her to Small Claims Court.
If not, I am afraid that this would be a case of her word against yours and you are probably out the money, unfortunately.