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FDCPA violations for contacting third parties

A debt collector discloses to a third party (a neighbor or relative) that you have a debt. This is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). A collector, by law, is NOT allowed to do this.

A debt collector is allowed to make one reasonable phone call to a neighbor or a relative in an attempt to locate you by confirming or correcting location information. However, the debt collector is not supposed to disclose any information about the debt that you owe. The debt collector is also not supposed to ask a third party to “pass a message on to you”.

Once the debt collector contacts the third party in an attempt to confirm or correct your location information, they must stop. The debt collector is NOT allowed to contact the third party more than once UNLESS requested to do so.

See a debt collector thinks that this is not a big deal, and might tell you that if you would have paid your bill, this would never have happened. Or the debt collector might get your neighbors and relatives to give you messages about this debt to try and embarrass you into paying them.

This is wrong, and completely against the law. It can be very humiliating and embarrassing for a person to find out that a debt collector has unlawfully given out your private “debt” information.

Debt collectors have also been known to contact a consumer’s employer. Again, they are allowed to contact you at work UNLESS you tell them not to you and send them a written letter stating the same.

A consumer’s employer is also another example of a third party. Debt collectors have tried to humiliate and scare you into paying them by speaking to the payroll department trying to get your paycheck garnished. In most cases, the debt collector knows that they are not allowed by law to garnish your wages….they just do this to scare and humiliate you into paying them. (Student loan debt can be garnished.)

A debt collector can be sued for violation(s) of § 1692b of the FDCPA for contacting third parties. A consumer could also be entitled to statutory and actual damages. If you or anyone you know is experiencing situations like this or similar situations, please contact my office to talk about your rights.


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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©2010 Jeffrey L. Suher, PC, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
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