Posted on 11/17/2010 7:01:28 AM PST by COUNTrecount
Tampa, Florida -- Debt collectors can be relentless and downright rude on the phone, but now a St. Petersburg woman is filing suit alleging the company that financed her car loan began harassing family members over the social networking website Facebook.
Melanie Beacham says she fell behind on her car payment after getting sick and taking a medical leave from work. She contacted MarkOne Financial to explain the situation but says the harassing phone calls, as many as 20 per day, kept coming. Then one day she got a call from her sister saying the company contacted her in Georgia.
"I was telling her, 'No way, because you're not even a reference,'" said Beacham, who later found out MarkOne contacted her sister and other relatives via Facebook.
Beacham says the company claimed they were doing nothing wrong but, upset over what happened, she contacted Tampa based consumer attorney Billy Howard of Morgan & Morgan.
"Now Facebook does a debt collectors work for them. Now it's not only family members, it's all of your associates. It's a very powerful tool for debt collectors to use," says Howard.
He believes Facebook will soon become a regular method for contact if nothing is done.
"It's getting the desired result, and that is to start a domino effect of panic and embarrassment among family and friends, and people will do anything to stop that."
Howard has now filed a first of its kind lawsuit against MarkOne asking a judge to ban the company from using Facebook and other social networking websites to contact friends and family members over a debt.
10 News was unable to reach MarkOne Financial for comment Monday regarding the suit filed in Pinellas County.
Beacham hopes the lawsuit will keep debt collectors from exploiting consumers on Facebook.
"Nobody should have to go through what I went through," said Beacham. "I was hurt because I just felt I didn't need my family going through that."
I’ve had similar circumstances. When we first moved to Florida our home number had 6 cell phones attached to it. it only got resolved after I was able to get the State regulatory agency involved.
One of the first things I learned about the internet don’t put anything on it you don’t won’t to be known. I learned this in the mid 90s and it still holds true today.
I went onto facebook because family and friends kept telling me I must so I could see their pictures they posted.
I don’t update or anything, and I’m thinking I’d like to delete my membership.
Unless it is the IRS - they have their own rules.
It is very trying. When I first received my cell number from work - I received a couple, but fortunately, they were few, and the people with whom I spoke were very polite and removed my number. I don’t think there are many like that though.
He knew the laws about what you can say. You can’t invite them to commit a crime. I heard him tell one caller “You know what Menedez means in Spanish? It means “Suck my fat %$$@, you *&$#%”. I laughed my butt off. Then he said “If they complain, I’ll swear to God I thought that was what it meant”.
Speaking of “debt collectors”, I just got a call from the Republican Senatorial committee, wanting a donation. I told them no. 5 or 6 times, before he finally got it. But I also explained why I wouldn’t give to the party any more and that I would give only to individual candidates that fit my definition of conservative, and that there were too many RINOs that needed to be weeded out.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. :)
Well how dare she buy produce and meat at the grocery, she should pay her bills and go pick up road kill and start a vegtable garden in her basement. I mean ride with the windows down on a 100 degree day becuase that extra gas for the A\C in the car is costing money and she should pay her bills. A dammit if she could’nt just patch up that holey underwear, I mean she owes people money and new underwear cost money. ...Jeez Francis lighten up, it’s only money and the finance company will survive if she misses a payment or two. That does not mean the coleciton agency should run roughshod over the law. I had these scumbags hounding me over a debt that was not mine, they called my work, etc. It took a cease and desist letter and threat to sue before they stopped and then they sold the erroneous debt to someone else. Laws don’t apply only when all the people think it’s fair to appply them. Many so called conservatives just love to get all holy than thou and get up in people junk over what THEY think is fair. You worry about yourself and let me worry about mine, that is the essence of liberty. Some of you sound like liberals..”Yea but it isn’t fair...waaaaaa”
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
“NRA” called me. Buncha stooges. They wanted to do business over the phone. No way. Send me something,
I get calls on my home phone for someone who formerly had the number. I tell the callers repeatedly that I don’t know the person they are looking for, but they continue to call...4-5 times per week. I told one caller that I was getting tired of the harassment and he said, “F&*k you!” and hung up. I got another call the next day.
After eight years I am still getting calls for “Mrs. Adams”.
I’ve never had anyone threaten me or disbelieve me, though, thank God. But I’ve gotten a fair number of calls. Got two just last week.
It doesn’t always work that way. I have a company trying to collect a debt from me, that isn’t a debt.
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This is actually more common than people realize.
If you dispute a charge with a company (utility, insurance, credit card, etc...) it is pretty common for the company to hire a debt collector to try and “hassle” the money out of you. The idea is that even if you don’t believe you owe any money, if the harrass you long and hard enough you will pay it just to get the debt collector off your back.
One quick way to get a debt collector to stop clalling you is to tell them that IF you ever decide that you do owe the money, you will NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES pay it to the debt collector as a matter of principle. You will pay the money directly to the company the original debt was with.
Debt collectors only get payed based on the money they collect. If you pay off the debt by giving the money to th original company (by passing the debt collector) the debt collector makes )$0.
“You worry about yourself and let me worry about mine, that is the essence of liberty. Some of you sound like liberals..”Yea but it isn’t fair...waaaaaa””
Well said, so many people on here are willing to use the govt power to attack people when companies are involved. But consider it wrong for the govt power to protect people.
Get a cowbell or a whistle and the next time they call, blowout their ear drums.
Listen for awhile and then tell them you’ve been recording the call and they will probably hangup.
“it is pretty common for the company to hire a debt collector to try and “hassle” the money out of you.”
Something like 5% will pay someone else’s bill to get the calls to stop. Idiots. It feeds the bad behavior.
That’s the same as clicking on a link and getting a virus. People are too trusting. I never install 3rd party apps.
Sorry, but authorizing a third-party app and enabling non-friends to view a profile or friends list are different topics altogether. And I get what you’re trying to say, that the third-party apps can lead to unauthorized profile access, but there are no “Debt Collector” apps for Facebook.
I had a similar, but not as bad, experience. Someone with the same last name and first initial as my wife ordered some books or CDs through Columbia and had them sent to a PO Box. The collection agency started calling us. Told us that we were the only listing in the phonebook with our last name and her first initial, so it had to be her. After several of these phone calls, I eventually got high enough up the ladder, and pointed out to them not everyone is listed in the phonebook, for the umpteenth time; that this could be a kid at their parents, a person with a private number or no landline or a completely fake name, and that it wasn’t us, they didn’t even have a full first name and that they were to NEVER call our house again, it finally stuck.
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