Please Help????

[afallison]

What is the name of your state? GA

I posted my message below. Can someone just answer my general question? Can a creditor tell people your personal business when trying to collect on a debt? It was not as though they were trying to locate us. They were just telling everyone we had used as a reference.

I need to know what I can do.

 

[JETX]

Can a creditor tell people your personal business when trying to collect on a debt?

Yep. There are no restrictions on what a CREDITOR can tell people. However, if you mean a 3rd party debt collector.... that is different.
Exactly WHAT 'personal business' have the told??

 

[afallison]

the on line lender hired a collections agency. the agency called my father in law and his business partner and told them we were seriously delinquent.
they had our info and called these other people and just told them things - they were listed as references when we opened the loan. -- we actually arent delinquent, they did not use the bank info i provided for the draft. it was their mistake.

they told the amt we owed and how much the payoff of the loan was. they also left messages on my father in laws business answering machine stating they were calling for us and that we were not paying our bills. when they talked to the business partner they asked him if he could possibly loan us money to take care of this. they continue to call these people even after i have called and written them asking them to stop.

 

[JETX]

the on line lender hired a collections agency.

That is diffferent from your first post.
And since you have now 'changed' to this being a 3rd party collector, their actions ARE a violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act):
§ 805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]
(b) COMMUNICATION WITH THIRD PARTIES. Except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#805

See the following link for their 'liability' up to $1000:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#813