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DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Pittsburgh consumer recovers money - debt collector contacts a third party and violates the FDCPA

A consumer was thought to have owed a student loan debt with a college university.

The collector attempted to contact the consumer by way of a written letter.  The consumer did not respond right away because he wanted to do some investigation first.  In the interim, the collector ran a “SKIP” trace on the consumer.  A “SKIP” trace is a derogatory term used by debt collectors.  Debt collectors use a program to try and locate you, potentially new addresses, new phone numbers and possibly a third party they could contact in attempt to locate you.

It is legal for a debt collector to contact a third party ONCE in order to confirm or correct location information ONLY. 

In this case, the debt collector came across a number in which was the Plaintiff’s estranged father.  However, when contacting this number, the collector couldn’t have been aware of who he/she was really speaking with.  Therefore, it was very important for the collector to appropriately identify who he or she was speaking with prior to disclosing any information.

Unfortunately, due to this company’s lack of policies and procedures or enforcement of policies or procedures, a debt collector ended up disclosing this consumer’s private information to his estranged father.  This private information included the debt he owed along with some other personal information.

The disclosure of this debt was very embarrassing and humiliating to the consumer.  Unfortunately, in this situation, the disclosure of this debt and other information could have also been very harmful and detrimental to this consumer.  You see, the consumer had not seen nor spoken to his father for 20 years for good reason.

Luckily, the disclosure of this debt did not get as detrimental for this consumer as it could have.  However, the debt collector was found by the Judge to have violated the law and just days prior to trial, the debt collector decided to settle the case.

Awarded: Confidential



Jeff Suher, Pittsburgh Consumer Attorney who specializes in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

Jeff sues abusive debt collectors and helps consumers that have incorrect information on their credit reports.  
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