Consumers may experience call from family and friends who inquire as to whether the consumer is having problems paying their bills. This is embarrassing for the consumer. If it is a debt collector who is contacting the consumer’s family (other than spouses) and friends, then the debt collector may be breaking the law.
The FDCPA flatly prohibits a debt collector from engaging in collection communications with third parties: “A debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer…” 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b); Evon v. Law Offices of Sidney Mickell, 688 F.3d 1015, 1025-26 (9th Cir. 2012); Thomas v. Consumer Adjustment Co., Inc., 579 F.Supp.2d 1290, 1296-1297 (E.D.Mo. 2008).
There are several exceptions in Section 1692c. For example, if the debt collector is seeking contact information for a consumer then it generally gets to place one call to a third party to seek that information. Unfortunately, however, many debt collectors will insist on calling these third parties even when they have a good address or phone number for the consumer. This is likely illegal conduct. The consumer can recover a statutory penalty of up to $1,000 and the debt collector will likely be required to pay the consumer’s attorneys’ fees.