Posted on 04/20/2011 9:23:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Debt collector stalking you on Facebook? Melanie Beacham says it's harassment, and took debt collector MarkOne Financial to court, trying to get the company to stop sending her Facebook messages about the debt she owed. The company also allegedly sent such messages to everyone else on her Facebook friends list.
Behind on her car payments, Beacham started receiving as many as 23 calls per day from MarkOne Financial before it found her on Facebook, according to the Orlando Sentinel. A Florida judge put a stop to the phone calls and online messages in a preliminary ruling, barring the debt collector from calling her, or from contacting her, anyone in her family, or any of her Facebook friends.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, this is the first court decision of its kind, and it could strike fear in the hearts of debt collectors everywhere, who are eager to use any legal means necessary to get that money back.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
23 calls per day? They are allowed 1 per day if you confirm your identifaction you don’t have to pay them, or even discuss the debt. Just verify who you are and tell them you’ll talk to them tomorrow :)
This judge should slap them hard enough (if she is smart enough to use the FDCPA) to pay her car note off.
Good for her, no one should have to endure such abuse.
Sending FB mail to someone that doesn’t want them is a TOS violation which could get the sender banned. She could have easily blocked the mail.
She should sue for each friend the collector sent a message to.
Well, she could just return the car.
The FDCPA doesn’t apply to 1st party collections.
Cool, got a thousand dollars I can borrow?
Happened to me too during my liberal carefree days on my first jobs before university before I straightened my life out. The jerks even called me at work until my former boss gave it to the caller that she’ll sue the debt collection company for harassment. That’s when I learned about living “off the grid” so they couldn’t trace me..prepaid phones, change addresses to a mailbox etc, paying cash for a new apartment. The only thing that probably was official was the cable/internet bill.
So, un-friend them. Stupid of her to friend the in the first place.
About that cable bill . . .
If she gets a good lawyer, she won't have to worry about making a car payment for a long, long, time. The penalty is $1,500 per FDCPA violation so if she had 100 people on her friends list and they each received 3 messages from the collector, she could be looking at $1,500*300 violations. For a tidy sum of $450,000 and they would also have to pay her legal fees.
“Well, she could just return the car.”
Wise guy. You’re not keeping with MSM-inspired tone of our comments.
Ping for the “Playing with Snakes” ping list
No she can't. Or rather, yes she can but it won't stop the calls. They'll sell it for a pittance (say 75% of FMV) and still come after her for the shortfall.
They don’t follow the rules, ya know.
So, un-friend them. Stupid of her to friend the in the first place.
_________________________
Anyone can send anyone a message on FB - you don’t have to friend them first. Like when I’ve searched for someone I knew in the past and most of their info is private it will say something like “only friends can view Susie Smith’s information. Would you like to send them a friend request or send them a message now.”
John Connor?
;O)
This is true. It should though. I guess I just figured it was a second party in this case.
>>>...debt collectors everywhere, who are eager to use any legal means necessary...
The collector in mention is above and beyond legal means and should be sued into oblivion.
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