question about the privacy act and bill collectors?

Question

a bill collecter called my house for a bill in my name, and my husband took the call and told them "anything that she deals with, i deal with" and they told him all the information about my bill. is that legal, or would i be able to file a complaint or something? these people have been rude with me, and since my husband is laid off, we cant pay the bill right now.

Answer 1

Without your written permission, this company can not speak with anyone whose name is not on this bill unless it is your attorney. I work for a collections attorney and we are absolutely not allowed to do this. A creditor we represent did this a few times and the debtor recorded it and they were fined $10,000. This company can be fined and/or punished. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act requires this.

Answer 2

Your quite right, the privacy act prohibits them from telling anyone anything other then yourself unless the bill is in their name also.

Even a bank can't tell someone that you share a bank account with that you took money out and how much unless you sign a waiver.

I don't know what you can do legally because I don't know where you live but you can look into it.

It will not however, stop them from pursuing you legally for the unpaid bill, they may garnishee your wages or take out legal rights to any property you own.

They have many more recourse's then you do so I suggest you work it out with them as soon as possible.

Answer 3

When the collector called he had no proof at the time the man who answered the phone was your husband. Apparently unauthorized 3rd party disclosure was made to your husband. It may be possible to file a complaint.

Answer 4

You're married, so it's completely legal. Those guys don't generally care much about legal anyway.

When you owe a bill you pretty much need a court order to force them to stop harassing you. They have a right to try to collect their money.