Miss
Greenville,#2Author of original report
Fri, June 29, 2007
Don: My relative never lived with any of the people mentioned in the previous post. I don't understand how they got my in-law's phone number. They have absolutely nothing to do with him. This tells me that United Bureau is running background checks on not only the individual in question, but any name that is on the report. United Bureau rides the line of the law as far as possible, and if people don't contact their government officials, this will continue, and probably get worse. I completely understand what you mentioned in your post, but like I said before, harassment is harassment, whether it be for collecting a debt or otherwise.
Don
Belleville,#3Consumer Suggestion
Thu, June 28, 2007
Miss, You are right that what they did was breaking the law. They are not breaking the law by calling relatives, as I am assuming they are doing that trying to locate the relative in question. They can ask for any new contact information to attempt to locate this person. I am assuming that the relative in question lived with your parents at some point, based on your post. Where they broke the law was advising the wrong parties about the debt. Only the name on the account, their spouse in most states (other than Alabama, Iowa and Massachusetts can a collector not discuss it with your spouse), and any co-maker can get the details on the account. The only other people who be anyone the debtor gave permission to discuss it with. This could be any relative or a lawyer perhaps.