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     | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 09:46 am  Just wondering what the gang thought of this-- I received a telephone message from a mysterious "Mr. Wiley" who left an 800 number plus extension, claiming that he wanted to help me out before he met with his client at noon tomorrow to discuss the complaint against me. Beyond wondering why collectors have no first names but insist on using mine, I'm wondering if this is some sort of a sham, as he is using legalese but not identifying himself as calling from a law ofc. Sounds pretty deceptive, here. What do you all think?
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 12:09 pm Some collectors are good actors-- and some aren't. Review the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If they didn't identify themselves as a collector on that message, they're in violation. That's defined in an amendment. What's the situation?
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 12:44 pm Hi Greg--thank you for your response. The situation here is multifaceted and has more twists and turns than a mountain road. In short, it involves a salary cut, an unplanned move, several charge offs and a recent repossession. I have been able to successfully keep the wolves at bay--for the most part just by reading the contents of this forum. I have little privacy here at the office and, ironically, it is a magnet for collectors calls. I firmly believe in not responding to anything that isn't in writing, and, despite my desire to do otherwise, I'll let my fears get the better of me. The issue isn't so much dealing with the people that call, but, when the walls have ears, one certainly is reluctant to deal with those who are in search of the cash anyway they can get it. Is my best course of action as you see it to keep avoiding them here at the office and wait for the it in writing? I can also make myself disappear from the workplace pretty easily (lots of work in the field)? Your response is greatly appreciated!
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 01:10 pm Send them a "Drop Dead" or Cease and Desist letter, requesting that they not call you at your place of employment, as this may have a negative impact on your ability to pay a debt. If they do it after they get that letter (registered, return receipt of course) then you have a course of action available to you AFAIK. Note: I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 01:19 pm Thank you, anonymouse! The problem is that when they do call and leave messages, all I get are cryptic names and telephone numbers-- "Please call Mr. Goulash at 888.555.1212 x 324 about the complaint" or "We have an important message for you, please call Kandy Kane at..." Inevitably, I have to wait for them to write me before I have a clue who they are, or what they want. They seem to waste quite a bit of money trying to reach me in some cases, I mean, for a $200 debt, some of them are threatening legal action. Is this crazy, or am I?
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 04:37 pm Collection agencies love to say all kinds of things just to get you to pay. It seems like a threat to me, for such a low amount, but you never know. Still I would bet on the fact that they are just threatening. Anonymouse (love the name, BTW) is right, a cease and desist letter should get them to stop.
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 05:02 pm If you can, keep the messages they leave, or at least keep a log. I'd keep a log of all calls, their names and numbers, and the essence of the conversation. Definitely advise them not to call you at work if you haven't already sent the cease and desist letter.
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| | Tuesday, April 04, 2000 - 08:20 pm Correcting what I said previously, the amendment I was referring to regarded the "mini-Miranda" warning. Prior to the amendment, they had to give you the warning about the communication being an attempt to collect a debt; any information... " The amendment changed the rule so that after an initial mini-Miranda, all they have to do when contacting you is identify themself as a debt collector. That doesn't seem to be true for an answering machine message. Here's a page that talks about what they can say on an answering machine: http://www.soglaw.com/fairdebtactarticletext.htm "... if a debt collector leaves a message on an answering machine, only the debt collector’s name should be left and not the purpose of the call... " I'm not sure where that comes from, however.
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| | Wednesday, April 05, 2000 - 07:37 am Thanks all. In my experience, I have found that a little bit of advice and a lot of humor go a long way. So, on the eve of disaster, here are the top ten reasons your friendly debt collector/repo man are better than your significant other: 10. Never forgets to call on special days (anniversaries, birthdays, any day...) 9. Doesn't mind if you don't remember where you parked the car (because, of course, they do) 8. Always have your best interests in mind, despite who they work for. 7. Committed to bringing you a bit of cheer during the workday, just by calling to say hello. 6. They never call collect, but allow you to call for free. 5. They always seem to know all of your personal history--more than the spouse. 4. They care about what your neighbors think, so they mark all correspondence "personal and confidential" to spare your wounded pride. 3. They are always willing to talk, even when you've told them to drop dead. 2. Always ready to "reaffirm" your relationship and, of course, #1 Always notifies you first before they sue! Have a great day, all, and many thanks for the great advice!
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| | Thursday, April 06, 2000 - 06:46 am Morgan, may I reprint that!?
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| | Thursday, April 06, 2000 - 10:22 am By all means! Just don't send it to the CRAs :) Have a wonderful day!!
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| | Thursday, April 06, 2000 - 02:23 pm Here it is.... http://www.creditinfocenter.com/FeaturedArticles/TopTenCollectionReasons.shtml. I didn't put your name on it, but I will if you want me to.
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