RANT! Another collection agency call looking for previous tenants

[MorningGlow]

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

Deep breath. Okay. We have lived in this house for two and a half years. The previous occupants (renters) were deadbeats. Apparently the female defaulted on something--I think it was a student loan. You'd think she spirited away several millions out of a bank vault, the manhours that have been spent trying to bring this fugitive to justice.

HOWEVER, the geniuses at the collection agencies call our number because it's attached to this address. The phone number was never their number, but they don't think of that. We've had call after call after call. No, they don't live here. We bought the house two plus years ago. No, we don't know them. No, we don't know where they are. No, we are NOT them. Take us off your fucking list.

And they do. Till the case goes to another agency. And then we start all over again. However, it's better than it was the first year, when we had collection dudes knocking on our door and, when we weren't home, walking around in our yard, peering into our windows (our neighbor saw them several times).

But today...today I :grr: anew, because yeah, after a few months of peace, I got a call AGAIN. Before I could ask this new jerk to take us off their list, he hung up on me. But that is not why I :grr:. Today I :grr: because, on a whim, I plugged the deadbeat chick's name into WhitePages.com.

They. Live. Down. The. Fucking. Street. Like, a mile and a half away.

And now I am going to put their new address and phone number on a Post-it Note and stick it next to the phone, so I may inform the collection folks the next time they call. And I will tell them I just did their fucking job for them, and better than them, at that.

Did I mention :grr:?

[Captain Angry]

1. I feel your pain.

I've been in the same boat, but pre-internet, so I was stuck explaining that they can call the apartment complex or the phone company with me conferenced in.

There's nothing like asking the phone company to tell the jackass from collections that the phone number they're using was transferred to a new user over two years ago.

[MorningGlow]

9. That's a good idea

Never thought of bringing in the phone company. But...nowadays, are there any live people at the phone company to talk to?

I think our situation is even more ridiculous, because this phone number never WAS their phone number. They had a different one when they lived here. Talk about not making sense. :banghead:

[Critters2]

2. I can dig it. Phyllis doesn't seem to have defaulted on anything lately,

but I'm sure she will again. And then they'll be calling here, and I'll tell them that Phyllis doesn't live here, that Phyllis is not here, that I don't know Phyllis, that I am NOT Phyllis. And it'll stop. Until the next time.

Phyllis!!! Pay your fucking bills!!!

[MorningGlow]

8. Phyllis! Nice!

I've got (danger: stereotype alert) "Brandi". :eyes:

[JVS]

3. When I was a teenager I got a phone line for the computer and the guy that used,,,

to have it had the same first name as me. So it was always "Is Chuck (not real name) there?" "You mean Chuck Wozniak? No." "You know his new number?" "No. I just keep getting calls for him."

[MorningGlow]

10. I am looking forward to having a new response

I can't wait till they call next time--now I can say, "Why yes, I do know where she is. She lives at XXX This Road and her number is XXX-XXXX. Now go get her."

But again, I say, what kind of idiot collector dials the new number at the old house (more than two years later) and expects to find the deadbeats still there with a new number? And what kind of idiot collector DOESN'T TRY LOOKING IN THE PHONE BOOK FIRST? :banghead:

[Lil Missy]

4. I worked for a collection agency for about two months.

My conscience couldn't take it, and I quit.

They don't care whether you are legally responsible for the bills or not. Just to keep pounding till someone pays.

Sickest job I've ever worked in my life. And they pulled the same thing on me and my family when my brother died.

Know this: you are NOT responsible for paying off anyone's bills or credit cards. If you are a spouse, you are NOT legally obligated to pay off your mate's bills, if it's just in their name. The ONLY exception is if an estate is opened.

[eyesroll]

5. Other exception: Community property state.

Your spouse owns half your assets and half of your debt acquired during the marriage, regardless of whose name it's in.

"Leslie" gets a lot of calls on our phone--I'm not sure whether she's in debt or just popular.

[Lil Missy]

6. That's true. There are a few community property states where ...

the spouse is on the hook for half the debt.

But, here's another secret: the collection agencies or credit card companies never pursue them. It costs more in legal fees than what the debts are worth.

And boy, would I be in deep shit if they knew I were telling this.

Shhhhh!

[Q3JR4]

36. It's okay, you can tell me, I won't say anything.

Q3JR4

[MorningGlow]

11. What I want to know is

What I want to know is why they think some total strangers who just happen to occupy the same domicile as the deadbeats did (that'd be us, the new homeowners) should be harassed and bullied for years on end?

Hey, LM, as a former employee of one of these collection agencies (you have my sympathy), can you tell me why they keep calling the new phone number at the old house, instead of looking up these people in the phone book and calling their NEW number or visiting their NEW address? I'm just curious as to how it works, and how come I could find their new phone number and address while the collections folks can't or don't bother?

[JoDog]

13. Because they're bad at their jobs

or they think that you are connected to "Brandi" and are lying.

A good skip tracer (the people who actually track people down for a collection agency) wouldn't be putting you in this predicament--especially since the new phone number is in a name that has nothing to do with "Brandi". Also, as these accounts move from department to department, from company to company, a new file is started. So all that information about how this person no longer lives at that address? Poof, gone.

Follow the advice downthread about reporting the collection companies. Next time one calls, give them the information you have on "Brandi's" whereabouts, then demand to speak to a manager. Explain how you accomplished what his/her employees couldn't with a simple Internet search, and you want your address taken off the file. Mention that you know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Act, and if you receive a call from his/her company again, you will be touch with the appropriate authorities. Remain calm at all times.

In fact, depending on how much you know about "Brandi's" predicament, the company may have already violated the law by giving confidential information to you. Make sure to point that out.

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Do you know that the info you found is valid?

Any half way decent agency will flog all of the addresses and phone numbers associated with her. That starts with the most recent data and works backwards. A standard tracking step is to look for new numbers at a known address (because some skips are known to change #s frequently to avoid collection agencies.) That's why they end up calling your house.

Any time you get one of these calls, ask immediately for the name of the agency and a call back number then state simply and clearly that no one at your house has that name, you don't know anyone by that name, and you've had the phone number for X years. Unfortunately there is no simple way to stop all if the collection is passed on to a new agency.

[MorningGlow]

20. No more or less valid than our address and phone number

I believe it's current, but who knows with these people, if they move from place to place frequently. And this may sound callous, but quite frankly at this point I don't care--we've paid our dues for more than two years. Let the collection agencies bug somebody else now.

Besides, if the stupid collectors had done their due diligence, they would have found the same addy and phone number I did.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. They probably have tried the # and address that you found and failed.

An address that can be found that easily would have been called before looking for new # at old addresses. I used to trace people as part of my job (not debt collecting) and it's a pretty standard approach -- we used it, our competitors used it, my employees who had worked in debt collections had used it.

[MorningGlow]

25. Then they're desperate if they're going back to a two-year old-address

Usually we get a call when a new agency picks up the case, so I was figuring that they looked in the folder, saw the address where the chick used to get "past due notices", and just started from there without checking into anything more current. Who knows. All I do know is they bug the shit out of me every few months or so, and it's getting damned old. :banghead:

[Gormy Cuss]

26. I understand your frustration.

Debt collectors are vigilant about past associations -- going back 10 years on an address isn't considered a stretch, especially with someone who's in an age bracket where they would have been living with parents or guardians in that time frame.

It's quite possible that each new agency has to reinvent the wheel in terms of calling old leads. They may not have the call records from the earlier agency, but they would have the # and addys known to have been linked to her in the past and start the tracing process all over. From your experience I'd guess that's exactly what's happening.

[Lil Missy]

27. They should be blocking you from the list when you tell them that.

But it sounds like these are different collection agencies that each start from scratch.

Some don't take the time to update the file. We were also expected to make x amount of calls per day to meet performance standards, so time is of the essence.

It was an awful experience. Sometimes I wanted to tell a spouse that they didn't really have to pay it.

[MorningGlow]

28. That's the sense I'm getting

We tend to only get calls every few months--when the case gets picked up by a new agency, and they're starting from "Let's take a look at that file...hm...last known address is...and phone number is this one here...mmmkay..." (dial dial dial)

Once I tweaked to the idea that they have to stop calling when I tell them to take our phone number off the list, it got a lot easier. It was just this most recent call that cheesed me off so much, because he was surly and hung up on me. I have to say that most collection callers have been decent and polite (until this guy).

I can't believe you lasted even a couple of months at that kind of a job--you are much stronger than your average bear! Zoinks!

[Wcross]

33. delete

[drmeow]

7. You have options

Find out the name of the collection agency and tell them that you are going to report them to the agency that regulates them in your state and that you will be filing a police report for telephone harassment if they do not take your number off of their list.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Collections-Law-912/Creditors-wrong-number.htm
http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/69/t/003454/p/1.html

We have recently started getting bills from Lab Corp for the previous owner (the house was foreclosed on about 7 or so years ago). I keep sending them back with a "not at this address" on them.

Some collection agencies/employees are better than others. We were getting some calls from two different companies. I told them they had the wrong number and they said they'd take our number off the list. We haven't gotten a call since. I kept getting calls for someone on my cell - my new cell has a feature that allows me to block a number so I've blocked that number. VERY satisfying.

[MorningGlow]

12. Yes, some agencies are better than others

And we've chatted with quite a few over the past couple of years, all because of these previous tenants. I have asked the callers what company they work for, however, and, good agency or bad, they won't tell me. (And very rarely does any information come up on caller ID.) But if I say "take our number off your list", very specifically, like with telemarketers, they do comply. What cheesed me off about this most recent call was the guy acted like a jerk and hung up on me before I could say it.

I had a lovely chat with a local police officer last summer, and he told me my legal rights as a citizen--apparently there's nothing they can do (police-wise) about phone calls, which was what I figured, but he said to feel free to call anytime anyone was seen on our property, because they can get 'em for trespassing, business or not. I would LOVE to do that, but we haven't had anyone physically come to the house in a long time. Too bad!
:rofl:

[JoDog]

14. I have friends and family

who work collections. The fact that they will not tell you the name of the company they work for is strange. They are required by law to tell you they are a collections agent if you ask. They cannot lie about who they are or why they are try to get in touch with someone (they will usually say it is "a private financial/business matter").

[forthetroops]

15. They don't care

They don't care about facts. They just want their money.

[hunter]

16. Well, you know the George W. Bush Mad Money checks are arriving...

Ours went into our bank and out of it, just like that. Hours after the government deposited it a collection agency we hadn't heard from for quite a while called on a stale old medical bill. You really don't know what life in the United States is like until you accumulate huge medical bills you can't pay because nobody would insure you because --get this-- you have a "pre-existing" condition and are a high risk!

I was in an oh bloody hell bad mood so I paid it, four years after it was first due. Our marvelous economic system has taught me to be entirely indifferent to collection agencies. If I ever got a call from a collection agency about a bill that wasn't mine I'd probably joke around with them. I do that anyways if I think the person on the other end is having a bad day because their job sucks, and they can't find another job. But you have to be careful because there are a few nasty, nasty people in that business who actually enjoy harassing people they see as "deadbeats" and they'll take your good humor as a sure sign that you are a deadbeat. But in fact true deadbeats are quite rare.

:woohoo: Thank you George Bush!

[Midlodemocrat]

17. I still get them calling for my deceased FIL.

Amex is the worst. They farmed the account out to a debt collector in MA who employs the nastiest people on the planet.

I filed a complaint, which finally stopped the harrassing phone calls, but Geez, it was awful there for a while. They even yelled at my son about paying the bill. :eyes:

And, because of that, I canceled the Amex cards we have had for 30 years. Fuck them.

[DFW]

18. Tell the local cops that you are being stalked and staked out by B&E criminals

That should get their attention.

Then tell the cops that you are the targets of an extortion scheme
trying to get money out of you when the so-called agency KNOWS you
are not the ones they are looking for. Say you think it is an organized
crime ring, as they surely aren't targeting only you. A letter to your
State Attorney should do the trick. Get their company name and a phone
number or an address. Turn the tables on them. Don't say you are the
victims of mistaken identity. No cops get points for rectifying that.
But--they all get points for catching bad guys. So: not mistaken
identity, but burglary and extortion? That might get their attention,
especially if the "case" looks like an easy solve.

[MorningGlow]

21. Hmmm...isn't there some issue with...

knowingly making a false accusation? I think you can get into a wee bit of trouble with the police for something like that. ;)

[DFW]

23. Well, there IS that minor detail

But if they are trying to get money out of you without justification,
then the extortion charge is legit, and if they intrude on your property
looking for stuff to "repossess," you have a pretty good argument there, too.

[MorningGlow]

29. I would be more than happy to call the cops if I spotted somebody peering in my windows

Too bad they haven't done that in a long time.

[Blue-Jay]

22. "I'll pay, but you have to come and get it."

[Sequoia]

30. I see a sign in your future: Morning Glory Detective Agency

[MorningGlow]

31. COOL!

Do I get a free trenchcoat with that? And a dictionary of gumshoe slang?
:woohoo:

[Sequoia]

32. Why sure !!

[Wcross]

34. If they continue to call, warn them ONCE & then let them have it.

EVERY TIME THEY CALL.

[MorningGlow]

35. Alas, I have a soft heart

I can't bear to do something like that to the grunts working the phones. Mr. MG even mocks me for being too nice to telemarketers. I'm pathetic that way--always have been.
:rofl:

[Q3JR4]

37. Good info here, bookmarking the thread,

please feel free to add more tips and tricks of the system to the list.

As the kids say, if you do I'll be your best friend. :D :hug:

Q3JR4.