Defamation

[Tiphaneeza]

Is it legal for a car dealership to contact friends and family and Facebook friends list giving out your personal and private business information? Telling them that you're behind in payments and their looking to repo your car? In Kentucky

 

[Zigner]

Is it legal for a car dealership to contact friends and family and Facebook friends list giving out your personal and private business information? Telling them that you're behind in payments and their looking to repo your car? In Kentucky

Perhaps you should contact the dealership...

 

[quincy]

Is it legal for a car dealership to contact friends and family and Facebook friends list giving out your personal and private business information? Telling them that you're behind in payments and their looking to repo your car? In Kentucky

Exactly what sort of personal and private business information is this car dealership giving out to others, other than you are behind in your car payments and your car is going to be repossessed?

ARE you behind in your car payments and IS your car at risk of being repossessed?

If what is being said is false, why do you think the dealership is saying this? If true, why do you think the dealership is contacting friends and family and not you?

 

[LdiJ]

Exactly what sort of personal and private business information is this car dealership giving out to others, other than you are behind in your car payments and your car is going to be repossessed?

ARE you behind in your car payments and IS your car at risk of being repossessed?

If what is being said is false, why do you think the dealership is saying this? If true, why do you think the dealership is contacting friends and family and not you?

I am pretty sure that doing that violates the Fair Lending Act...and all kinds of other things. There may be some grey areas involved since the act pre-dates Facebook, but if someone did that to me, I would certainly make it a "cause celebre" and go after the collection agency/dealership with a vengeance.

Whether a debt is valid or not, the lengths that some collection agencies go to, to attempt to collect are blatantly illegal and they should be seriously shot down. There are plenty of legal remedies available to creditors/collection agencies, they do not need to resort to illegal ones.

 

[quincy]

I am pretty sure that doing that violates the Fair Lending Act...and all kinds of other things. There may be some grey areas involved since the act pre-dates Facebook, but if someone did that to me, I would certainly make it a "cause celebre" and go after the collection agency/dealership with a vengeance.

Whether a debt is valid or not, the lengths that some collection agencies go to, to attempt to collect are blatantly illegal and they should be seriously shot down. There are plenty of legal remedies available to creditors/collection agencies, they do not need to resort to illegal ones.

Because Tiphaneeza posted in the defamation section of the forum, I was first looking to find out if what has been communicated about Tiphaneeza to others is true or false, this to rule in or out any defamation claim.

But you are right that disclosing private financial information raises other areas of legal concern.

It can depend on what exactly was related to his friends and family, though, and how it was related. If the car dealership was only looking to locate Tiphaneeza, and the reason for looking for him was never stated to others (possibly only implied), it makes a difference.

Here is a link to Kentucky's statute on privacy of consumer financial data (806 KAR 3:210):
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/806/003/210.htm