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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."
Communication with third parties: revealing or discussing the nature of debts with third parties (other than the consumer's spouse or attorney) (Collection agencies are allowed to contact neighbors or co-workers but only to obtain location information; disreputable agencies often harass debtors with a "block party" or "office party" where they contact multiple neighbors or co-workers telling them they need to reach the debtor on an urgent matter.)
And if they posted something on your wall, that could fall under a number of these laws. Hell, if you consider 'Facebook' an embarrassing media:
Contact by embarrassing media, such as communicating with a consumer regarding a debt by post card, or using any language or symbol, other than the debt collector’s address, on any envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails or by telegram, except that a debt collector may use his business name if such name does not indicate that he is in the debt collection business
And if the debt collection's profile wasn't MARKONE DEBT COLLECTOR I'd be looking at that sort of shadiness as well.
Having been the subject of a mysterious $180 debt collection put on my credit report over six years after they allege it happened in 2003 with no attempts to contact me until two months ago, I implore this woman to seek more than just a court order against MarkOne but instead to get the law amended now that social network websites are prevalent. They are a new form of contact medium that exposes far more information than the phone book and the current laws should apply or be updated minimally to reflect this.
If you're wondering about my $180, I contacted them immediately. After getting all my current information so they could commence harassment, they told me to log onto some third party site and contest it. I did. Three weeks later I got a judgment: REMAINS. I was informed that, short of litigious action, that was the extent of my rights in that situation.
My work here is dung.
A. Pay your debts
B. Go to your account settings in Facebook so that people can't mine all this information about you. Pass this tip along to your family and friends.
You do know they can't reply if the modded? or did something change?
Anyways, ti's not that simple and you know it. You were probably marked troll because you are making a trollish statement.
There can be many, many reason whys someone doesn't pay there bills. For example, after the .com bust, I was out of work for a number of months, and yes some bill went unpaid for a while. People have unexpected medical expenses and life changes. There are perfectly valid reasons for not paying a debt. But you went for the troll response.
I generally agree.
I think all sides are a bit extreme in a lot of these debt situations.
Banks and creditors should do more to protect people from themselves (obviously this is counter to their goals.. they make money by keeping people in debt as long as possible).
Consumers should be more financially responsible. Yes, there are cases where it is unavoidable (illness for instance).. but I have little sympathy for people who simply live beyond their means because they can.
Debt collection needs to be much more regulated. A little gental harrassment and public shaming.. fine.. but these cases you hear where people are driven to suicide need to stop. Also you hear about people being mistakenly targetted.. this needs to stop as well.
My general belief is that one should never use credit to buy something that costs less than one paycheck. Just wait until you actually _have_ the money. Obviously stuff like houses, credit is (barely) worth it.. because we want a house now, not when we are 60, and are willing to fork out an obscene amount of extra money over the long term to get it sooner. I almost think this should become a law. There is _no reason_ to rack up debt to buy a stereo.
Would this persons situation NOT have been prevented by not simply paying their bills?
1) Erroneous attribution of a debt to you that is not your debt.
2) An error by the company you paid your bill to, making them think you haven't paid when you actually have.
3) Mail/On-line banking/transaction problems
4) Recordkeeping errors at billing company or debt collection company
5) A scam.
There, FIVE things that could get you calls from debt collectors when you pay your bills on time.
I've personally experienced the second one where the company cashed my payment check and did not credit it to my account.
The actually acknowledged that my check was cashed, but still demanded that I pay them again!!! I contacted the Attorney General for my state and they convinced them to stop calling.
Suffice it to say, simply paying your bills does not necessarily keep collectors at bay.
Again, speaking from my own experience a few phone calls/faxes of proof of payment has fixed any issues I've encountered. (1) can be provided if you present a utility bill for your current location, and if they call more than 3x in one month you can press charges for harassment. (2,3,4) can be solved by providing proof of payment, and if the issue is pressed, I send them a copy of my proof of payment and an invoice for my contractor hours based on the time they waste, as well as a notice that they will be sent to collections if they continue to waste my time. (5) Scams nothing will protect you from, even the law. Its not a perfect solution, but these have worked for myself and my family. Harder to avoid was when a prior inhabitant at my address had a warrant out for his arrest; sheriffs don't accept proof of payment :)
Quick addendum:
Here's a simple trick I use when I am tempted to spend money - I just buy stocks instead.
I actually do the same thing. Except instead of stocks I move it into my retirement savings. Once it's in there, it's a hassle to get it back out. I generally do this shortly after getting paid. If it's not there.. I'm not tempted to use it!
That said, I think it's important to spend money on stuff that brings you happiness _right now_. Those stocks or my savings are useless if I get hit by a ostritch or something. As long as it's within your means and you are putting away for later.. dropping some money on something you didn't really need is ok once in a while.
...and if they call more than 3x in one month you can press charges for harassment...
Hell, if that was true half the debt collectors out there would be out of business. In a past life, I had some calling three times a day.
In the US you can't be directly incarcerated for debt; you can, however, be incarcerated for refusing to obey a court order that you pay the debt, which courts don't usually order unless the judge is convinced you have the money.
I'd say that at any point in your life, you shouldn't have more than 5% of your annual income in debt. You don't need that brand new car -- you can buy something affordable, and pay cash. I know buying a home is the "American dream", but how about saving up for it, managing your finances well and buying something you can afford? Or -- strange as this may sound -- renting one for life because you do not make enough to buy one. No one is entitled to anything. Here's a simple trick I use when I am tempted to spend money - I just buy stocks instead. So, if I see a nice jacket that I like that costs $200, I just buy stocks for $200 instead. So, now I'm out of my discretionary spending, and I just invested more money. Happiness all around.
You buy stocks instead of clothes? Because you think everyday people waste their money on useless junk, like you? Not everyone can be a fortunate son like you. Your numbers are so out of touch with reality it isn't even funny. You can't buy a home anywhere in the world without incurring a debt that is many times your yearly salary. In my case, it was 5 times it because I'm making fairly good money and the apartment is small. In basically every city in the whole world there is a shortage of rentable apartments. No one is asking for a condo in downtown manhattan, just two rooms in some far out suburb. It is still hard to get. Then you have student loans. Most of us didn't have a college fund because our parents didn't have enough money to save anything. Unless you already are rich, there is no way in hell you can live a decent life without having more than 5% of your income in debt.
Football Odds
Indeed.. I totally agree that this needs to be fixed.
Your history of _not_ being in debt and annual income should be more important.
I actually use my credit card on a regular basis when making online purchases.. I just pay it off immediately. I don't put anything on it unless I have the money actually sitting in my bank account. This practically turns my credit card into a debit card.
You also get all those benifits they use to suck people in.. while not making them a dime (and infact, probably costing them money).. which is very satisfying.
Seriously.
I have owned my current house for 11 years. A few months ago I started getting calls on my landline for debts incurred by one of the previous owner's kids.
The kid hasn't lived here in over 10 years. The kid never had my telephone number.
The scummy debt collectors cross-referenced an old address to a phone number, completely ignored the directory information on the number, and started harassing me mercilessly.
It took many weeks to get them to understand that I was perfectly serious about taking them to court if they didn't lay off.
But I'm glad I live in a country where this would be illegal
This is blinging
Of course, you suppose anybody able to pay rent is also able to also amass a 20% downpayment while paying it, and that owning is for everybody.
I see you are fairly acquainted with reality. When your parents stop paying, you will see money differently.
I work at a collection agency. This breaks all sorts of FDCPA laws, especially about releasing information to 3rd parties.
This agency will get audited very soon.
Once when moving out of an apartment, I had the manager come in on the day I moved out after the apartment was empty. She and I went through the whole apartment and did the evaluation for how much of my deposit I would be getting back. The end result was that I was going to get back all of my deposit minus the small fee for cleaning/whitewashing/whatever that happens.
Fast forward two months -- I get a call from a debt collector wanting me to pay money to the apartment complex. Well, being as I was expecting a check back from them, and this was the great state of California, my response was this:
"I am due a refund of X dollars from the apartment complex. I have this in writing and signed by the apartment manager. Their refund is now past due, as California state law allows the apartment complex only 30 days for the ex-tenant to receive their money. As such, if I do not have a check in my hand by the end of the week, I am contacting the CA housing authority as well as the sheriff and going after both of you for failure to pay, harassment, and fraud."
She apologized profusely, and in 3 days I had a check in my hand with the full amount owed to me. Woo-hoo!