If someone living in Florida is receiving constant calls from a creditor, they have options for stopping the harassment. There are federal laws regulating the way that companies attempting to collect on a debt can contact individuals, so creditor harassment isn’t something people just have to put up with.
When someone gets a call from a collection agency, they should not provide the agency with any information, especially not an address or social security number. If the debt is valid and they have the right person, the agency should already have this information. Individuals should ask whom the agency is calling about, and if it is not a person at the residence, they should advise the agency it is no longer allowed to contact them about that person per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Another part of this act states that if a collection agency contacts someone, they must send that person a validation notice by mail within five days. Should someone receive this contact and find that it is incorrect, they should dispute it immediately. If a collection agency continues to contact someone about a debt they do not owe, they can send a certified letter instructing them to never contact them again, and if they do not comply, people can report them to the FTC.
Collection agencies assume that the people they are contacting are not aware of the laws regulating creditor contact. If an individual is being harassed by a creditor, they may benefit from speaking with an attorney who can explain their rights.
Source: Cleveland.com, “What should you do if a debt collector is wrongly calling you? Money Matters,” Teresa Dixon Murray, March 29, 2013