Is it legal for debt collectors to call a person's neighbors?

Question

Yesterday my neighbor came to my house with his phone and told me I had a call. It turned out to be a debt collector looking for my mother-in-law (who has never lived with us but gave out our address and number instead of hers.) The collector said that since no one answered the phone at our house, (I didn't get the phone in time) they were calling the neighbors to try to get ahold of her.

Now, I'm furious with my mil for dragging us into this. And if I knew where she lived, believe me, I wouldn't have hesitated to give that debt collector her address and number. (My husband and I have had to deal with our own debt collectors when she used his SSN and ran up credit cards to the tune of $15K.)

But as I got to thinking about it a little more, is it legal or even ethical for debt collectors to harass a person's neighbors while trying to find them? Seems kind of shady to me, but then again, lots of shady things seem to be legal these days.

It's pretty easy to find the numbers of a person's neighbors. On whitepages.com, there's a feature called "find neighbors" that will give the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone in a given neighborhood, provided they are listed in a phonebook to begin with.

Oh, and my husband and I aren't in debt anymore. :-) He paid off the debts his parents ran up in his name...those were lean times, indeed. This time, it's just his mom that's in debt.

Answer 1

I have been with a very large global bank for about 6 years. I have worked as a collections supervisor in areas such as auto finance, commercial lending, personal cards/loans, etc. Yes, it is legal for creditors to call neighbors, relatives, and known associates for "Skip Tracing" purposes. For example, if someone insists on not answering their phone, banks will "Skip Trace" to find other possible numbers. They generally call neighbors, relatives, and known associates to tick you off enough to call back, but it is skip tracing. People will go on about the FDCPA (Fair debt collection practices act) but keep in mind this only applies to third party collection agencies, not direct lenders. By the way, telling a collections representative to "Stop Calling" doesn't necessarily work (Especially if the debt is yours), but I would sent a certified letter to this company telling them to cease and desist communication with you. It sounds like this is a collection agency (3rd party), so they must honor your request.

Answer 2

Well it seems like the debt collectors are just trying to find out where or how they can get a hold of your dear Mother in law. That is unfortunate that she has used your husband's SSN and probably ruined their relationship, so I'm sorry to hear that. Often if debt collectors can't find the debtor's correct address, they will contact their workplace, family or friends to see if they can get their correct place of residence or at least a phone number. Debt collectors may only call during reasonable hours of the day, however, and you can tell them to stop calling you if they start harrassing you. I think you'll be able to find more information on debt collectors' practices at the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Agency)'s website. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

NO they are not allowed to go calling around to the neighbors or anyone else other than the person who they are collecting the debt from. They cannot call your place of work either. It is the law and many of them don't follow it...contact your better business bureau and file a complaint I guarantee it will clear it up, I had to do that for a collection agency that wouldn't close out my acct once it was paid...had it cleared up in no time then. They should not even be talking to anyone else other than the person who has the debt being collected. And they are only allowed to call once a day when collecting a debt, any more than that is harrassment, and I can't remember the times but they cannot call early morning or late night. Next time they call you and it's not your debt tell them if they call you or your neighbors again for your MIL, you are going to file a complaint and they are breaking the law....get nasty with them they will leave you alone then.

Answer 4

Ideally it's not. Debt collector are no where allowed to call a third party and share anybody's debt information. It's against the law and you can file a complaint against them.

Answer 5

yes it is legal for them to call your neighbor.they can not discuss anything about any kind of debt. they can only ask if you still live there.there is a surefire way tio stop the calls.when the bill collector calls ask them why they broke the law.tell them that your neighbor told you the person that called told them all about the debt and unwillingness to pay.tell them you have a notarized statement that your neighbor says the collector did discuss the debt with the neighbor.then tell the collector you are going to sue them for breaking the law. also tell the collector you are now taping all their calls. normally they will say it is illegal.it is not illegal as lond as one of you know its being taped. go to a pawn shop and buy a cheap digital recorder.i cleared a $5000 mastercard debt. they erased the debt if i did not sue

Answer 6

It is not ethical, but I am pretty sure it is perfectly legal... Important to note, I had a friend that worked for one of these and made a lot of money harassing and yelling at people. They can also wsay whatever they want, and he told me this. He would tell people he was going to call people to take away their kids and stuff. Anyway, don't listen to anything they say and just ignore it. Also, pay off your debts as soon as possible, and do it legitimately and honestly. His business paid him more money if they signed up for a ridiculous loan to pay it off...

Answer 7

It is not illegal for anyone to call someones neighbors or for anyone to call anyone they wish for that matter. It is illegal however for them to discuss confidential matters with them. They may identify themselves as a debt collector and even inquire about a specific person. Any assumptions made as to why a debt collector would be calling is not the debt collectors fault therefore it is not illegal.

Answer 8

The easiest way is to request a written summary of the claimed debt. Once you have the claim and claim number in writing, you can write to them and demand that you no longer be contacted by phone in attempt to collect any debt. by Federal Law a debt collector may not attempt to contact you by phone if you have requested in writing they stop. (They are allowed to contact you one additional time after receipt of your letter. any subsequent calls can result in a fine of $2000. Send it registered mail. It doesnt matter if it is a valid claim or not. they can not call you once you have sent them the letter.

Answer 9

its legal... They can call anyone they want to call.... until it becomes harassment.

Any debt collector calls someone not involved in the debt... then the person can say "Never call again" and if they do... its harassment.

Yes, debt collection practices get shady.

But its pretty shady of people to avoid trying to pay their debts.

Answer 10

It is labeled harrasment! That is illegal as well as unethical.The same thing happened to me and when they called me back I told the person on the line they were being recorded for my harrasment suit. I never heard from them again. Having been a debt collector at one time-it is not normal practice to get family, friends, and neighbor names to hunt down a debtor. It's underhanded and dirty. I would log and record if they call again. Also get call block on your line and block them from calling you.