some questions...

[Confused78]

hello everyone.

I meet with a lawyer a month or so ago, got all my paper work that needed to be filled out and now and set to go back on Friday. Although I won't have the funds to fulling pay until the second Friday or Sept.
In the meantime, someone has been calling my mother. Telling her how far my acocunt is past due, the amount owed, ect.. (can they do this?)
so I called the lady back (first mistake) she was VERY rdue. Told me that I had to pay atleast 1/2 upfront $500.00, I told her I couldn't come up with that and that it wouldbe atleast until the end of the month until I could. I also asked her to remove my mothers number from their systems. She went off when I asked this, saying that I had 48 hours to call her back with my bank info or she would start faxing papers to my husbands employer, ect.
Now, here is my question. Do they really have all that info (husbands work) and can they really do that. Also isn't it illegal for them to give my mother all of my account details? The card is in my name only.
One last thing how long until I pay for the chapter 7 until the calls/letters stop? Thanks for any answers/help you all may have.
I am so stressed over all of this

[Brookamy]

They should not be giving out information about the account to other people besides you.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this.

[Confused78]

Thanks. I didn't think that they legally could but, what do I know?!?!

I am just scared that they will fax it all to my husbands work. He works for a very small company and we live in a VERY small town so word travels fast. I was already freaking about it being in our local paper.

[AngelinaCat]

Hi Confused78:

Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission's info on the Fair Debt Collections Act:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

I hope this helps.

[Confused78]

Thank you so much. If I am understanding it correctly, she had no right to tell my mother my personal info (amount owed, last payment, ect)
I guess I will call the lawyer tomorrow.

[AngelinaCat]

That is absolutley correct. Since you have the lawyer, let him or her handle it for you. Ideally, you hired the attorney to do your worrying for you.

Yeah, Right.... I know how well that works!

Good luck!

[Confused78]

Thanks again. I am calling him today. I was/am worried that he won't start handling any of my issues until he is paid in full. I guess I will call and find out.

[Minnymouth]

If you have partial paid your attorney - he is retained. Thus he can handle the issue of the company that's calling everyone. He can send a letter cautioning them on harrassment charges and that you have retained him to file bankruptcy. He won't file your BK until you pay him in full.....

[justplaintired]

Yes call the attorney and let the collector do the same. Give his name and number if he agrees to let you do so. Giving out acct info to your mother isn't legal.

Once you give the info to them regarding the attorney you should be fine. I hope your attorney will agree to take the calls. Make it simple and to the point with the collectors, don't let them intimate you. You will have to answer all the calls and give the info then the calls should stop.

Good luck!

[Help!]

I agree with everything that's been said and that this debt collector has stepped way out of bounds. I would add one suggestion... get a spiral bound notebook or composition book, record the date and time of each phone call (to you, your mother, whoever) and keep track of their actions. Write down the details, including the fax threat. If they persist or they go so far as to fax something to an employer when they obviously have been able to contact you, take that notebook to your attorney, file a complaint and nail 'em to the wall.

[Confused78]

Thanks. I did call today and talked with the sect. she did take the number and said they would call. I heard nothing back yet though. I only paid $50.00 last time I was there so that it hardly anything towards the total amounted owed. I hope they are able to stop her from calling my mom and faxing my husbands work.
My mom called (she doesn't know that I am filing) and said that she called AGAIN (yesterday) saying that she just spoke with me and wanted to know how WE were going to handle this. When I spoke with her I asked her to remove my mother's number from my account info, she said ok. I am just so frustrated/worried over all this.
Thanks again for your response.

[Confused78]

Thanks justplaintired! You can see my above post that explains more. I meet with the lawyer again Friday so I am hoping to get the go ahead to start answering the phone and giving out his number. So far I have just been avoiding the phone, not the best move I know. Thanks again.

[Confused78]

Thanks for the advice. I have been mentally tracking all this but I guess writing it down would be best. I was just thinking all she has to do is say she never did/say it. We have no proof, kwim? Anyway I am going to start. I never heard back from the lawyer so I will call first thing tomorrow morning and see if they spoke with her. I am suppose to call her back tomorrow or she is going to "fax my husband's work" I REALLY don't want that to happen. I wonder if she even knows where he works though. He is not on my card and when I asked her where she had she wouldn't say.
I am stressing way to much about all of this! Thanks for all your help

P.S. One more question, about how long until the calls stop after you start giving out the lawyers number?

[Pinkie86]

I had someone call my step father and tell him I defaulted on my AmEx (I was ONE month late), and how much I owed.
When I got around to calling them they were threatening to sue me, were down right mean, actually had me in tears.

This had me RUNNING scared and was the day I went and talked to my lawyer about filing BK.

Needless to say, I turned their butts into the FD Hotline. Apparently the company that called me, Nationwide Credit or some such crap, has had BIG Problems with breaking these rules in the past.

It never hurts to report abusive people to that hotline. They need to be held to better standards.

[liz417]

P.S. One more question, about how long until the calls stop after you start giving out the lawyers number?

Hi there,
It took a couple of weeks for the calls to stop. Some companies just took the attorney info and that was the last I heard from them, but Chase and AMEX kept calling and calling serveral times a day and I would give the info over and over (they claimed they didn't have it in their 'system').
We stopped paying in Mid May and don't intend to file until Oct/Nov (our file date keeps getting pushed back because we are trying to pay the attorney).

Good Luck to you and hang in there!