CA Calling Family Members

Send them a DV letter along with a limited CD letter. They need to prove that they own the debt. The CD letter will stop the calls to you and your relatives.

hi bradngill--

what you have stated is true--it is against federal law for them to call any third party once they have located a way to contact you. But there's more than that here--the same federal law(fdcpa) states that the one and only permissable purpose for them to call any third party is to try to locate you. They did more than that--they discussed a personal business matter with a third party which is a major no-no.

As it stands right now, just from what you have said, they violated the FDCPA twice--contacting a third party after finding a way to contact you directly, and disclosing information about the matter to a third party. Based on my experience, there are probably other violations in the way they have communicated with you and your husband as well. The next thing you need to do is check your three credit reports to make sure that they arent violating more laws there--the FCRA is the law that addresses credit reporting and it is not nearly as lenient as the FDCPA is.

Guest is also correct in that you can send them a cease and desist letter. However, many CA's dont bother listening to them--another FDCPA violation if they ignore that. But at least by sending them a DV/C&D you are letting them know that you are aware of your rights--sometimes that causes a CA to straighten up a little.

While "Guest" has a valid point(seems to be the only sentence they know) this goes a little beyond a simple DV. The CA is aware of the consumers contact information. Calls to relatives when the contact information is already known is meant only to harass and embarass which is a violation. Without knowing the situation though, you state they intend to sue, it is difficult to advise you. Who is the CA? How significant is the debt? More info please. You have a vaild couterclaim if they do sue but not enough to hang your hat on.

nascar's right--we could use more info. As it stands now, it isnt enough to hang your hat on, but with more info, there could be more violations that would strengthen your position.

we had two Capitol One accounts, so I'm not sure which one this is about-they didn't tell her the name of the collection agency, wouldn't even tell her the name of the person calling, just that it was "on behalf of Capito One" (they've sold the account already...) and that they were planning on suing. We live in Missouri. (my parents live in Tennessee-how they got the number is beyond me)
Since I'm not sure which account they're referring to, I can't tell you the exact amount of debt, but it shouldn't be over $600. As I said in the original post, I quit answering phonecalls because I was tired of being treated like a criminal for something that was beyond my control, and they haven't sent any letters notifiying us of their intent.
I honestly don't even know where to send the DV and C&D letters to!

Also, is there a way to check my credit report without having to pay for it? I've used one of the "free credit report" sites before, but they only let you check it once. If I have to pay to do anything, I'm sunk! Can't even file bankruptcy at this point because it costs too much!!!

Answer the phone next time they call. Verify your address and that you are indeed the person they are seeking. Inform them that they have 5 days to send you their dunning letter in the mail and that any further contact with 3rd parties will result in you filing legal action. Then end the call. Also, if they continue to harass your parents, have them send a stern Cease Comm and file complaints with the FTC, AG's in the CA's and their state and the ACA if they are members. Throw in the FCC for good measure.