What is the name of your state? VA
A debt collector contacted a relative of mine regarding a credit account that was opened by him for me to use. He opened this account for me about six years ago; I've done all the charging, and paying, and have recently gotten a bit behind on it. Anyway, a few months ago I had changed cell phone companies and forgot to give the creditor the new number, so they found my relative's and called him. He then called me and told me to call the lady from the collections.
I did, and when I got on the line with her, I gave her the account number to pull up. I asked if she would have any problem with me recording the conversation; she said no, and advised me of the same. Once she pulled up the account, we discussed the balance due on it, and I made a suggestion for a payment arrangement. She then went on with "well, it looks from your credit report like you have $9000 available credit on X card, a mortgage line open with X bank that has some money you could take a loan on..." and a few other items from my relative's credit report.
I cut her off to tell her that she wasn't reading my credit report, but my relative's. Only then did she ask who I was and what relation I had to the account. I told her my name and explained that though my relative opened the account, I had been using it with permission to make charges and payments. She said "oh" and we kept discussing payment arrangements. By the end of the call, payment was all squared away, but I walked away feeling a bit odd about the exchange.
The question is, would my relative have a case for suit against this organization for violation of the FDCPA? They revealed specifics of his credit report to me; names of banks, balances of accounts, all without even knowing my name. She came on the line, gave me her name, I told her I was calling about account xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx, and she asked for a moment to pull it up. Her next words were "alright, the balance on the account is $X, with payment due of $X..." I jokingly said to my relative "y'know, she suggested a balance transfer from your X card to pay this account off, since you have a couple thousand available and all." He asked how I knew that he even had an X card.
A debt collector contacted a relative of mine regarding a credit account that was opened by him for me to use. He opened this account for me about six years ago; I've done all the charging, and paying, and have recently gotten a bit behind on it. Anyway, a few months ago I had changed cell phone companies and forgot to give the creditor the new number, so they found my relative's and called him. He then called me and told me to call the lady from the collections.
I did, and when I got on the line with her, I gave her the account number to pull up. I asked if she would have any problem with me recording the conversation; she said no, and advised me of the same. Once she pulled up the account, we discussed the balance due on it, and I made a suggestion for a payment arrangement. She then went on with "well, it looks from your credit report like you have $9000 available credit on X card, a mortgage line open with X bank that has some money you could take a loan on..." and a few other items from my relative's credit report.
I cut her off to tell her that she wasn't reading my credit report, but my relative's. Only then did she ask who I was and what relation I had to the account. I told her my name and explained that though my relative opened the account, I had been using it with permission to make charges and payments. She said "oh" and we kept discussing payment arrangements. By the end of the call, payment was all squared away, but I walked away feeling a bit odd about the exchange.
The question is, would my relative have a case for suit against this organization for violation of the FDCPA? They revealed specifics of his credit report to me; names of banks, balances of accounts, all without even knowing my name. She came on the line, gave me her name, I told her I was calling about account xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx, and she asked for a moment to pull it up. Her next words were "alright, the balance on the account is $X, with payment due of $X..." I jokingly said to my relative "y'know, she suggested a balance transfer from your X card to pay this account off, since you have a couple thousand available and all." He asked how I knew that he even had an X card.
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