Brother's debt collector came to my house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pull your credit score but most likely the collector found you were related and contacted you. I think it’s a tactic collectors use to go after relatives get to the debtor.

Agree with this. And I'm pretty sure it's illegal for the collector to contact you, but they are predatory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think debt collectors look for relatives and ask for money, don't they? It's not necessarily that your brother pretended to have your address.

They most certainly do not unless it's the kind of debt collector that works for the mob.

My SIL left the US after taking out student loans that she has no intention of repaying. Every year or so her loan servicer sends us a letter asking if we know where she lives. I guess she gave them our address as a point of contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think debt collectors look for relatives and ask for money, don't they? It's not necessarily that your brother pretended to have your address.

They most certainly do not unless it's the kind of debt collector that works for the mob.

My SIL left the US after taking out student loans that she has no intention of repaying. Every year or so her loan servicer sends us a letter asking if we know where she lives. I guess she gave them our address as a point of contact.

Wow. What a huge piece of crap she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think debt collectors look for relatives and ask for money, don't they? It's not necessarily that your brother pretended to have your address.

They most certainly do not unless it's the kind of debt collector that works for the mob.

My SIL left the US after taking out student loans that she has no intention of repaying. Every year or so her loan servicer sends us a letter asking if we know where she lives. I guess she gave them our address as a point of contact.

I wouldn't assume she gave them your address. People keep posting this and people who've worked as collectors keep explaining they'll use any address they can find. Also it is against established consumer rules for them to contact you. Tell them they have the wrong address and to stop contacting you.

[Anonymous]

We once got contacted by a debt collector for my BIL. I checked our state laws and it's illegal where we live. I told the debt collector if he called again I'd report him. Stopped after that.

Check the laws in your state. Your dbro might have given your info and might not have. It's super easy to find peoples' relatives with a simple Google search. The debt people use those tools and then try to embarrass the debtor into paying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think debt collectors look for relatives and ask for money, don't they? It's not necessarily that your brother pretended to have your address.

They most certainly do not unless it's the kind of debt collector that works for the mob.

Not correct. They will go around to relatives. They’re not the most ethical group of people.

Do you think Bank of America tracks down relatives?

I mean, are you guessing, or speaking from experience? The posters that have spoken to the affirmative, are speaking from experience.

The only reason BOA is tracking down a relative is if OPs brother has a second underwater mortgage on his $2.5 million home that they financed and is now in foreclosure.

They do not care about small-time $3K credit card debt.

Her brother needs to tell her what he did or what shady characters put up cash for his homes.

Of course they care about 3K credit card debt!! What a ridiculous statement. They care about ANY debt and will do what they can to collect it. If they sell it to another company, then that's what the company is in business to do -- collect the debt they bought.

You’re an idiot. They write those losses off as pennies on the dollar. It costs more to hire an investigator for a week than to go after small-time like that.

If OPs brother has people knocking on relations doors he got that money from somewhere that would rather beat him up than lose it. Like a shark.

They do not write it off until they've tried unsuccessfully to collect it. Then they sell the debt -- to a company whose sole reason for living is to collect the debt. The courts are FILLED with people being sued for small amounts of credit card debts. You don't know what you are talking about.

yup. There are some incredibly embarrassing posts in this thread. This is what happens when the way you think things should work is stated as fact.

[Anonymous]

The bank itself does not go around collecting debts. When an unpaid loan is "sent to collections", it means an independent agency is being paid to track down the debtor. The independent agency will use any and all methods to find the person. This includes using the internet to find relatives, friends, and associates. They will call and visit former neighbors, co-workers, relatives close and distant. It doesn't mean the debtor gave out that address. It just means you showed up in some internet search of the person.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of collectors coming to your door, but I believe you. Any website like whitepages.com often has a section indicating potential related individuals.

For years we used to get calls for my DH's ex even though she had never lived at our home. We gave them her phone number and address and told them we'd file a complaint if they contacted us again and that did the trick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what state do you live in? There are laws about the ways debt collectors have to do their work. If you tell us the state soon can refer you to those laws, and you might be able to tell collectors to stop or that they are breaking a law (for example, in DC, they can't tell you whose debt they are collecting, I think).

Hi we are in California. Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you apply for credit, you usually have to give a relative's name and contact info. That way the collectors can find you if you're not responding. It's called skip tracing. I used to recruit for a credit card collections organization about 25 years ago.

+1. I was once contacted by my sister's federal student loan handler. It's not because she "fraudulently used our address" or was trying to steal our identity ... it's because she put us down as a "relative" on some government form 20 years ago when she was 18 or 19. That's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bank itself does not go around collecting debts. When an unpaid loan is "sent to collections", it means an independent agency is being paid to track down the debtor. The independent agency will use any and all methods to find the person. This includes using the internet to find relatives, friends, and associates. They will call and visit former neighbors, co-workers, relatives close and distant. It doesn't mean the debtor gave out that address. It just means you showed up in some internet search of the person.

Yep. I had two really rude and gross tow truck men show up at my office (pre Covid) looking for my brother's rental car once. They were purposely loud and trying to embarrass me at work. A tactic? He actually left the rental car at the airport, that they didn't check in. We just happen to live near my brother, who was out of the country for work. It was really nuts. I don't know how such behavior is legal. Maybe it's not?

[Anonymous]

I vividly recall filling out financial aid documents during freshman year of college and I thought they asked for one or two relatives to prove your identity. Not because they would later harass those relatives if I was late on payments!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think debt collectors look for relatives and ask for money, don't they? It's not necessarily that your brother pretended to have your address.

They most certainly do not unless it's the kind of debt collector that works for the mob.

My SIL left the US after taking out student loans that she has no intention of repaying. Every year or so her loan servicer sends us a letter asking if we know where she lives. I guess she gave them our address as a point of contact.

Wow. What a huge piece of crap she is.

That is a loophole in the student loan system. I listened to a podcast describing this. Now that a lot of people can work anywhere, some are skipping out to avoid repayment and continuing their lives outside the US.

[Anonymous]

OP, please report back whether your credit reports revealed anything shady (credit cards, bank accounts or loans in your name that you don't recognize). You can check all three credit bureaus by the comfort of your desk. Free.

[Anonymous]

Check and lock your kids’ credit too!!