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Debt Collectors Using Facebook To Embarrass Those Who Owe

Not even the tranquility of FarmVille can save you from the long arm of debt collectors. Melanie Beacham says that a collector from MarkOne Financial contacted her relatives about her past due car note via Facebook. She is filing suit alleging that the company is harassing her family. Tampa based consumer attorney Billy Howard of Morgan & Morgan says, "Now Facebook does a debt collectors work for them. Now it's not only family members, it's all of your associates. It's a very powerful tool for debt collectors to use."

3 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So pay your bills by scubamage · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Why exactly was my post marked as trolling? Would this persons situation NOT have been prevented by not simply paying their bills?

  2. Re:So pay your bills by cobrausn · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I wonder how long until this gets marked Troll...

    In answer to the final question, less than one hour. You did not disappoint, /. mod system.

    Well, rather, you did not diverge from expectation.

    --
    How does it feel to be a liar with pants constantly on fire?
  3. Devil's Advocate by rakuen · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm not going to say knocking on the door of everyone you know is a good thing when you're a month or two overdue on a bill. But if you're six months overdue, you know, maybe a family member or two should know about it. Yes, I know, breach of privacy, but hear me out. There's a lot of people out there who don't want to tell anyone about their financial difficulties, even the people closest to them. They don't want to be a burden, or they're too embarassed, or they have too much pride to admit there's a problem. If a debt agency contacts your brother or something, well, now someone knows. He can at least try to tactfully approach the problem and offer assistance.

    While I'm at it, I'd ask that debt collectors find some tact themselves and stop being judgemental pricks, but I imagine that might be asking a little too much.