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Author: Sergei Lemberg
Why is A Debt Collector Calling Me When I’m Debt Free?
![A debt collector has left a voicemail for a man.]()
There are usually three reasons a debt collector is calling when you are debt free. They may have the wrong number, they may think you are someone else, or they are unaware that you have already paid the debt for which they are calling.
- Wrong number: A debt collector may be calling the wrong number because the person they are attempting to collect the debt from may have had your phone number before you. Or, the phone number may have been entered wrong in their system by data entry.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) still applies to you even if you are not the person the debt collector is trying to harass. Even if you are not the person owing the debt, according to Section 806 of the FDCPA, a debt collector cannot call you repeatedly or use profanity when speaking to you, even if this communication is not expressly directed at you. If they try to accuse you of committing a crime or threaten to sue you, this is likely a violation of Section 807. These violations enable you to sue the debt collector for violations of the FDCPA and entitle you to recover up to $1,000 in damages in addition to court costs and attorney fees.
- Case of mistaken identity: There are times when a debt collector calls because they believe you to be someone else. An example of this happening is when a father and son share the same name, and the debt collection calls one about the other’s debt not realizing they share the name. Regardless of how this error occurred, Section 805(b) of the FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from discussing a debt with a third party with very few exceptions.
- The debt was already paid: There are times a debt collector may call to collect on a debt that was already paid. This may happen if you paid the original creditor instead of the collection agency, or the debt was sold to another collection agency and you paid the first one, or the debt was discharged in bankruptcy.
By law, a debt collector must send written notice of the debt within five days of the first phone call. The notice must contain the amount of the debt, the name of the original creditor, and how to dispute. The last item is important because if you do not believe you owe the debt, disputing it is the first step you need to take. You have thirty days from the day you receive written notice to dispute the debt. You must tell them the reason for the dispute in your letter.
Once the collection agency receives notice of the dispute, they must cease all efforts to collect until the debt is verified. It must also notify all credit reporting agencies (Transunion, Equifax, and Experian) even if they believe the dispute has no merit. This was decided in a case called Semper v. JBC Legal Group, where the court ruled that the collection agency violated the FDCPA when they decided the plaintiff’s dispute did not have merit. See Semper vs. JBC Legal Group., 2005 WL 2172377 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 6, 2005). The judge found the statute did not grant the defendant the right to decide for themselves that the plaintiff’s dispute had no merit so the FDCPA did not apply to her situation. Id.
About the author:
Sergei Lemberg is a consumer rights attorney, practicing since 2006, whose practice focuses on consumer law, class actions and personal injury litigation. He is known for a United States Supreme Court case (Facebook v. Duguid) defending consumers from autodialers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 to send unsolicited text messages. He is also the author of Defanging Debt Collectors, a book that teaches consumers how to battle debt collectors and win.
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