Background info: I am a 21 year old active reservist with United States Army Reserve in California and last year my unit went on Annual Training(AT). During training, we get "activated" for a couple weeks while we train in case we get injured.
I had an allergic reaction in the field, and they had to send me to a nearby ER off-post because I was having trouble breathing (it was a reserve base so no on site 68W could properly treat me for my symptoms). Because I was sent to the ER during my "active duty" time, the Army was supposed to pick up the bill. It's kind of like if you get hurt at work, company helps out with the cost. Unfortunately, I was notified June 1st (2 weeks ago) that the Army did not pick up the bill and the debt was now mine.
I picked up the phone on June 1st, and told him what I knew about an "Hospital Debt" that could have occurred about a year ago and that I shouldn't have any debts because the Army was supposed to pay that debt. He insisted the debt is mine, and told me to call him back.
The past two weeks, according to my mother, the Debt Collector has been persistently calling her, even at work. She claimed that nearly every day he has been calling her. I have been busy with final exams (UC System) and hadn't thought much of the debt collector.
Today, my mother called me again telling me the debt collector called her AGAIN and so I visited r/personalfinance wiki on Debt Collections.
I did everything outlined in the wiki. I called the debt collection agency, I recorded the call, making sure to abide by California state laws. My state is California, and the phone recording laws require consent of both individuals in the call to give their consent to be recorded.
The representative gave his consent, so I:
- requested the mailing address of the debt agency
- asked for a validation notice
- provided my mailing address
- requested ALL information about the delinquent account in writing
- asked for ALL future communications to be through physical mail/written form.
Finally at the end of the call, I asked the representative: what did you discuss with my Mother?
Representative: "We got the authorization to speak with your Mom.."
Me: "Uh, the authorization to speak with my Mom from whom?
Representative: "..Uh actually we don't have the authorization yet to speak with your Mom. Would you like me to authorize her?"
Me: "No, that's okay. Please do not."
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) - § 805. Communication in connection with debt collection (b) states:
(b) Communication with third parties Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.
My question is: I never authorized my Mother to speak with the debt collection agency representative on my behalf. I never authorized the debt collection agency to speak with my Mother about collecting on this debt. Is the debt collector in violation here? Because he keeps calling and talking to my Mother, essentially harassing her to get to me. Personally I find this enraging/infuriating but I need to know if what he is doing is technically legal.
TL;DR: Debt collector harassing my mother to get to me. Is that legal?
Sidenote 1: I think he talked with my Mom a few times before June 1st. Idk if that's relevant but I'm confirming with my mom when she's available
Sidenote 2: Perhaps I'm being childish, immature, or petty but I would rather be educated on this matter than getting taken advantage of here or having any rights infringed upon
EDIT: if the mods think this is more appropriate for r/legaladvice (rule 5) then I will take it over there, I just figured because it was debt-related it was more suitable for r/personalfinance
EDIT2: formatting
Submitted June 14, 2017 at 02:29PM by Azncrackfox http://ift.tt/2rrNPCG
