harassing phone calls

It is illegal to call up your relatives for the debt you owe. If they disturb further, file a complaint against them with the FTC and the State AGs office. You can find an existing discussion on MCM in this forum by visiting the link http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/collection-agencies/mcm-company.html .

No it is not illegal to call relatives...as long as it for location information only. Sounds like the relative is screening calls. As long as they only make contact once, it is not illegal.

Yeah, they are looking for your contact info. You should allow the relative to give them your mailing address, so they can send you the dunning letter, and you can dispute the debt.

Correct, a collector can call others for location info only, and should only make one contact with those third parties. Have your relatives keep track of the number of calls they are receiving. My clients' relatives and neighbors get calls when the consumer doesn't answer their own phone (because they're at work or just don't want to pick up the call). I recommend to my clients to take at least one call from the collector and find out the name of the company calling, a phone number for the company, the name of the account being collected and the balance (this is the most useful info for me as a consumer lawyer). Then they should politely end the call with no further discussion or explanation of nonpayment. That way the collector will have to send a letter to the consumer (assuming this was the first contact with the consumer). The consumer and any third parties receiving cals should keep track of all calls (date, time, and nature of call). If collectors continue to call third parties I plead that is harassment because they know how to reach the consumer directly.