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  #1  
Old 08-13-2007, 04:08 PM
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Collector Contacted My Neighbor

What is the name of your state? Oregon

Today my neighbor was contacted by Ken from ASI wanting to know information about me. Is this ok to do? Now my neighbor knows I have a debt owed through this company.
  #2  
Old 08-13-2007, 05:46 PM
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It is legal to call people who live nearby your address and ask if they know how to reach you. As with all third parties though, a third party CA cannot disclose that you have a debt or that you are in collections. The usual script for calling nearbys is as follows...

Ring, Ring

Neighbor: Hello?

Collector: Hi, Bob?

N: Yeah, who's this?

C: This is Jim, hey, I hate to bug you, but I'm trying to get ahold of Sam, your neighbor across the street, and I haven't been able to. You wouldn't happen to know how to reach him, would you?

N: No, not really. I could take a note over to him, though. What's your number?

C: Really? That'd be great! My number is 800-555-1212. Just tell him to call Jim.

N: Ok.

C: Thanks again!

Easy as pie. Sometimes, a third party will get nosy, and as a collector you just have to start thinking fast on the phone. So long as we don't lie and don't disclose the debt, we're within our rights as collectors to do some research on a hard to reach or running debtor.
  #3  
Old 08-14-2007, 01:54 AM
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draygnmage - Good to see you. I thought you might have gotten disgusted with all the flack in the air and left.
  #4  
Old 08-14-2007, 08:36 AM
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Nah, midmonth is looming, so I had to go beat some money out of debtors to make my mid month goal.
  #5  
Old 08-14-2007, 12:17 PM
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I smell some cash here, like $1,000...Can you spell VIOLATION.

I would get started right on it and let them know that. This just might scare them off.
  #6  
Old 08-14-2007, 12:20 PM
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This isn't a violation.
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  #7  
Old 08-14-2007, 01:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dare1969 View Post
What is the name of your state? Oregon

Today my neighbor was contacted by Ken from ASI wanting to know information about me. Is this ok to do? Now my neighbor knows I have a debt owed through this company.
It's totally illegal. This violation would fall under .."impermissible third-party contacts regarding consumers' debts.."
Civil Action No. CV-990-7874 FTC File No. 982 3130


ETA: It's a FDCPA violation to: communicate with third parties for purposes other than acquiring location information about consumers, without consumers' consent even insinuating debt will be a violation

Perimeter Credit, L.L.C. and Account Portfolios, Inc., U.S. v. (Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division), File No. 952 3142
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Last edited by skidmarks; 08-14-2007 at 02:06 PM.
  #8  
Old 08-14-2007, 02:13 PM
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May a debt collector contact anyone else about your debt?
If you have an attorney, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you do not have an attorney, a collector may contact other people, but only to find out where you live, what your phone number is, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting such third parties more than once. In most cases, the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money.




Op didn't say that the collector TOLD the neighbor about the debt. OP only says that now the neighbor "knows" about it.
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  #9  
Old 08-14-2007, 02:45 PM
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And if the 3rd party specifically asks for the company, we are required to give the name of the company. But that in and of itself does not constitute a 3rd party disclosure.

If the neighbor knows you well enough to draw their conclusions ... that's neither our fault nor our problem.

DC
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  #10  
Old 08-15-2007, 05:14 PM
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Hey, skid, good job on copying the relevent portion, but bolding what you felt like.

I'll type slowly in deference to skid:

When... we... call... neighbors... it... is... to... get... location... information.

Now go read your little quote again and this time read the *right* part.

Like this.

It's a FDCPA violation to: communicate with third parties for purposes other than acquiring location information about consumers, without consumers' consent even insinuating debt will be a violation.
Last edited by draygnmage; 08-15-2007 at 05:16 PM.
  #11  
Old 08-15-2007, 05:49 PM
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The ken lynch pin issue is:

Has ASI established debtor contact with dare1969 at that location?

If so, it might seem that calling his neighbors is a potential violation.
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  #12  
Old 08-15-2007, 08:53 PM
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Quote:
It's totally illegal. This violation would fall under .."impermissible third-party contacts regarding consumers' debts.."
As already aptly explained, it is NOT a violation and not considered 3rd party contact. HOWEVER, if they already HAVE your accurate location and contact information, then it IS NOT acceptable for them to be calling your neighbors (per the FTC).
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  #13  
Old 08-19-2007, 11:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xylene View Post
The ken lynch pin issue is:

Has ASI established debtor contact with dare1969 at that location?

If so, it might seem that calling his neighbors is a potential violation.
ASI has established debtor contact w/ me at this location, and the phone call to my neighbor stated "Hi, this is Ken from ASI. I see that you are a neighbor of ***** do you know if he is there."
  #14  
Old 08-19-2007, 12:11 PM
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Per the FTC Staff Commentary on the FDCPA, contacting a neighbor when they already HAVE valid contact info would be a violation of the Act :


Quote:
2. Location information. Although a debt collector's search for information concerning the consumer's location (provided in section 804) is expressly excepted from the ban on third party contacts, a debt collector may not call third parties under the pretense of gaining information already in his possession.
and..

Quote:
1. Scope. Prohibited actions are not limited to the six subsections listed as [53 Fed. Reg. 50105] examples of activities that violate this provision.


2. Unnecessary calls to third parties. A debt collector may not leave telephone messages with neighbors when the debt collector knows the consumer's name and telephone number and could have reached him directly.
There is also case law in West v. Nationwide Credit, 998 F. Supp. 642 (D.N.C. 1998)
The 'do you know if he is there' does NOT conform to the definition in 1692b of 'location information' .. clearly they KNOW where you live and simply not answering your phone does not give them grounds to say they're 'acquiring location information'.
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  #15  
Old 08-20-2007, 05:58 PM
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Actually, not answering the phone when he previously talked to the collectors *does* give them a valid reason to believe that he may have moved, hence asking the neighbor "is he still there?" The collector was attempting to verify the location of the debtor and did so without disclosing information. (Otherwise the OP would have jumped all over that instead of "they knew I lived there.")
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