Feb 23, 2014
Richard described a fairly typical "Foti" message from a debt collector, dancing at the edge of privacy breach. If you confront a live rep, it is illegal to refuse to name the company calling you. Beyond that, a compliant agency will tell you nothing other than "important business matter" and how god-awful vital they think it is that your son should return the skip trace calls. However, the agency could be calling you first even though it has a working number for your son, pretending he cannot be found, for the purpose of creating anxiety and false shame.
FTC and CFPB material on US federal collection law:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ... debt-collection
My advice for "not me" cases is found here:
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-34af6a034ba34b6/unending-collection-calls