Can they, should they????

[magyar123]

Assume a creditor knows someone's employer, but is unable to contact him/her at the last known address.
Can they legally ask the enployer what his/her address, phone number is, and does the employer have to divulge that information?

[CindyLou]

They can ask all they want as long as they do not say they are collecting a debt, but the employer should have a policy not to divulge the information.

[HHM]

Yes, a collector can contact a debtors employer in an effort to "locate" the debtor.

[treehugger1]

This is why it is so very important that you do not, at first, ignore collection agencies' phone calls. It is often in your best interest to force the collection agency to send you a written response after contacting you. Under the FDCPA, the collector has 5 days to send written notification to you. You can then respond with a cease&desist letter that tells the collection agency that they can no longer contact you by telephone, anywhere. But, you clearly let them know that they are free to contact you via US mail.

You can also ask for validation of the debt. I've done this on a few out-of-state collectors where I have under $1000 debt in collection. However, if you know the debt that they are trying to claim is correct, then asking for validation "may" speed up the lawsuit process. Its hard to say what a debt collector will do if you send a validation letter.

Recently, I have received dunning letters from several out-of-state collectors for debts that "may or may not" be mine. In all but one of these cases the collection agency or collection law firm is not registered in my state. I send copies of the dunning letters and a formal complaint to the AG's office. So far, the collection agencies simply let the matter die out or send the debt onto another poor bottom sucking CA. I have a copy of one letter where the CA sent a letter of apology to the state enforcment agency. Everytime a new CA gets your old debt from a previous CA, the paper trail gets harder and harder to present from the original creditor. The further toward the bottom of the debt collector pond that your debt gets, the cheaper the debt becomes and maybe a easy negotiation can be reached (always in writing, of course.)

I'm rambling here, but I've recently learned that many big credit card companies will use debt collection firms to initiate contact with you when you are only 60 days or so overdue. I'm not sure of the reason for this, but I suppose it is cheaper to hire a CA to "scare" you than have in-house collections go after you. Here is an example:

I recently received a collection notice for a very large credit card issuer and very large bank (I won't mention any names.) I sent a small payment to the credit card company and then called a few days after they received the payment. They stated, and I recorded this, that "No, your account has not been sent to collections. Please try to do your best to get some payment to us on a monthly basis." I think that so much of the world of finance has moved toward automated technology, that banks such as this don't even know whether your account has been sent to a collection firm!! I'd love to meet the CA in court and play my phone conversation with the bank for the judge. I do believe some eyebrows would be raised. What a bunch of DORKS!