How do I sue?
Date: Fri, 10/05/2007 - 02:18
I don't know why they are calling my son and his wife, I have never lived there and I have never used his phone. How do I go about filing a lawsuit against this CA?
Hi Artie, welcome to the forums! OK< here's the thing, in ord
Hi Artie, welcome to the forums!
OK< here's the thing, in order for you to sue, you will need proof of your allegations. Otherwise, you will make a complaint and the CA will just deny it.
Here is how I recommend you proceed, and this is exactly what I have done and still do. First, you will want to check the laws in your state regarding recording telephone calls. If I recall right, there are only 12 states that do not allow you to record a call unless all parties in that call give permission. All the rest are "one party" states, meaning you can record the call legally if one party gives consent, even if the other party in the call doesnt even know it is being recorded. Check the laws to ensure that you wont be breaking the law, and then if you live in a one party state, go buy a telephone microcassette recorder. Simply hook it up to your son's phone line, and when they call again, have him record the call. They can deny it all they like when you sue them then, but the recording doesnt lie.
If you like, you can post the state you live in and I will check to see if you can record the call legally there. Actually, the state your son lives in is the one we need, if it is different than yours.
Also, telling them on the phone that they have the wrong number is useless. Your son needs to put it in writing and send it to that collector by certified mail. That way, with the return receipt, you will have physical proof that the bill collector received the letter. In the letter, your son basically wants to tell them that they are calling the wrong number and that the person they are asking for has never lived at that telephone number. He needs to tell them that it is hereby demanded that they immediately cease any and all contact with that telephone number. This is called a cease and desist letter, and according to federal law, once they receive this request from you, it is illegal for them to continue calling that number in the process of making collection efforts. The green receipt card from the certified letter will prove the date that they got your letter, so if they continue calling after that date, this is another violation of federal law.
The law that governs this is called the fdcpa, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Each violation of the FDCPA means that they will have to pay you up to $1000 plus any actual damages. In the case of the phone calls, they would have to pay that to your son, and he would have to sue them over it. But that's ok as long as he is willing to do so. One more thing--in this case, since the caller doesnt identify the company, you will need telephone company records to prove the number where the call came from. In some places, those records need to be subpoena'd through the court, so if your son has the unlimited calling plan like I do, he will need to get a subpoena sent to the phone company. This is not as difficult as it may sound, they have a legal department at the phone company that can tell you exactly how to go about doing this.
Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything else and we will do our best to get you good answers!
