On behalf of Law Offices of Mark M. Kratter, LLC on February 09, 2013
Connecticut residents logging into their Facebook accounts may soon find a nasty surprise waiting in their inboxes. Credit card debt agencies and other collectors are already known for harassing debtors at their homes and places of employment. Some are beginning to take it a step further and target people on social networking sites. One woman was subjected to this after she logged into her account and was confronted with a message asking her to call someone about a debt she owed.
The woman felt the behavior was inappropriate considering she had already engaged in dialogue with the agency. Now, the woman is fighting back against such tactics and has filed a lawsuit. She claims she stopped paying her bill after the company reportedly charged her too much, and now she is fielding phone calls from the collector at numerous places, including from family members. Her lawyer called the use of Facebook by the collector a form of harassment. He claims to have noticed an uptick in these tactics by collection agencies.
The behavior has also resulted in Facebook postings on a person's wall, a place where others could see the harassing message and result in a violation of privacy. Also, some collectors have been known to use fake personas to get the person to allow access to their accounts. Once they do, they soon find out the person they added is actually a debt collector. Federal regulators are now eyeing this behavior and may implement sweeping regulations against such behaviors. This year will mark the first time there has been oversight on debt collectors.
Credit card debt is not new to Connecticut residents, and it is estimated that one out of 10 people in this country have some form of debt transferred over to collectors. New regulations will target credit card debt collectors, other agencies who may purchases debts from creditors and even credit card companies. Legislation like this could help numerous amounts of Americans currently dealing with debtor harassment and struggling to pay their bills each month. Any time someone is harassed by a collector it can be stressful, but sometimes these agencies can step over the line of propriety. This is when consumers have the right to seek help and fight back against these unscrupulous practices.
Source: sfgate.com, "Debt collectors' social-media use targeted," Carter Dougherty, Jan. 25, 2013
