Harassing Phone Calls
Complaint
Gloria Engle
Country: United States
We have been receiving unwanted phone calls from Northland Group since 5/18/2007. They call from 1-866-380-8783 every day and ask for a person whose name I've never heard before.
It seems as someone used our address and phone number in their loan application, and Northland Group is trying to collect the debt.
For some reason people from Northland Group refuse to believe that the person they are looking for is not leaving with us, and continue their harassing calls.
I submitted my complaint to FTC, but I thought I should also let know here about this issue.
Northland Group
7831 Glenroy Road
Suite 110
Edina, Mn. 55439
800-800-8191
www.northlandgroup.com
It seems as someone used our address and phone number in their loan application, and Northland Group is trying to collect the debt.
For some reason people from Northland Group refuse to believe that the person they are looking for is not leaving with us, and continue their harassing calls.
I submitted my complaint to FTC, but I thought I should also let know here about this issue.
Northland Group
7831 Glenroy Road
Suite 110
Edina, Mn. 55439
800-800-8191
www.northlandgroup.com
Comments
When the choice comes down to "Do I eat or do I send money I don't have to my credit card?", the decision is simple -- I use the money to buy food! I worked for years to keep my credit clean. The main problem I incurred is that the credit card companies will give credit to anyone (college students, unemployed people, disabled people) KNOWING that the people can't afford to pay the bills!
Does this make the fact the bills aren't paid right -- no; however, a 19 year-old kid doesn't always choose the right decision.
Also, is it right when you close a credit card account to keep the interest rate from increasing that the credit card company TRIPLES the rate 8 years later? NO!!! Chase tripled my interest rate and my account, at the time was in excellent standing.
With the state of the economy, credit collectors will be having an increase in volume of bad debts they will be attempting to collect. All I can say is "Good luck!!"
Denial, threats, refusal to talk, etc...
I have since filled out a BBB complaint form and suggest you all do so as well.
I have been working in the low-income housing industry for 14 years and have heard every hard luck case imaginable. Like any situation there are some that deliberately avoid their situation and there are others who by circumstance of their family or employment situations cannot in all hopes resolve their situation. I cite the current housing crisis. Lenders took advantage of people who they knew could not and would not be able to pay off the debt. There are stories in the news almost daily about collusion between mortgage companies, builders and developers. Creditors are not the honest up front professionals they want everyone to think. Just look at the credit boom that originated in South Dakota where banks took advantage of their states laws to maximize profits. Because of their business behaviors much of the credit protection laws we have today is because of them. The fact is credit card companies are the worst for poor and subversive business practices but the law has been so grey.
Collectors are not much better. They too are responsible for the laws protecting consumers. Of course they will never admit. In fact debt collectors try to circumvent the law with tactics like repeated calling, handing up during the call cause that way they can claim they were not being harassing. As far as vulgar language it is hard to prove any claims unless you have a recording of the statements, as our good friend here Tony Kollector proves towards the end of his message, vulgarity and demeaning insults are part of their business practice. Calling people immature and claiming they caused their situation is harassment. As a civil rights attorney once told me harassment is in the eye of the beholder. At any level of the law harassment is defined in general terms because it can be hard to convict and there are so many methods of harassment.
When a collector calls the best thing to do is not identify yourself, acknowledge you know or don't know the person they are trying to reach. Ask them their name or employee identification number, the business address, the name of their supervisor and a telephone number they can be directly reached at. If they try to tell you their incoming call goes into a pool and are taken as they come in don't accept that answer. If they refuse to provide a telephone number now they are in violation of the communications act which is a much greater offence and easier to prove.
If you are the individual that the collector is attempting to reach again do not acknowledge yourself as the individual they are attempting to collect from. You have to really careful with this one because they use insults to anger you and they take that as you are the person. That is why if you get upset they will continue to call. What our friend here, Tony Kollector won't tell you is there is a statute of limitations on collecting debt. If the debt collector can trick you either through constant harassment or another one of their deceptive methods the clock on the statute of limitations could reset.
The best thing to do if you really want to settle your debt but just don't have the means is to work with a credit counseling agency. But be careful some of those agencies are as bad as collection agencies. Before you pick a counseling agency call your state's Attorney General or the Secretary of State, depending what state you live in, and ask if there have been any complaints on the agency you are considering. Remember the BBBs run on membership fees of the companies that you maybe wanting to issue a complaint against. The BBB don't have any real authority of any of their members and the states may not monitor the complaints. Don't get me wrong, BBB serve a purpose just not guaranteeing your consumer rights. That’s the job of the state's Attorney General and only if it represents a majority of the population.
Working with a counseling agency is the best way to get a plan to pay off your debt. A good agency will negotiate with the collectors on a settlement amount. Also if a collection agency is harassing you at home or at work the agency should have form letters that they can send to the collection agency telling them to stop the calls. Thanks to the financial institutions, an electronic signature is as good as an original signature. But be careful because there are requirements. Faxes are considered original and binding. Don't fax the letter from your home or work. The collection agencies will use this as acknowledgement on your part another reason to work with a counseling agency. Some counseling agencies will not work as an intermediary between you and the collection agency but look for one that will.
One thing our friend Tony Kollector is right about is doesn’t ask any questions when they call. If they hang up the next time they call tell them that by virtue of hanging up on you while you are trying to advise them not to contact your or to cease their calls, their behavior is harassment. Start your conversation with that statement and see if they hang up.
Collection agencies make their money on quantity. They know some debt they will never collect but gamble on increasing their odds by repetition and contacting as many leads they may have. Calling your neighbors and friends is also harassment and tell family or friends not to acknowledge the calls and simply state do not call this number again and any other calls from them will be considered harassment. By calling your neighbors collectors hope to embarrass you and get to call them to tell them to stop calling which again acknowledges you’re the debtor. Contact your Attorney General what is the best way to respond to collectors and what you and your family should say exactly to keep them from harassing calls. Write it on a note card and keep it by the phone or make sure anyone who answers the phone has a copy and read it word by word each and every time. Keep a log of the calls, collectors are supposed to identify themselves so that if you tell them to stop calling and they continue to call you can log it. There are fines collectors have to pay if they violate the regulations. The fine is only $1,000 per violation but if they continue to violate it the fines could add up. Who knows maybe they will violate it enough to cover any debt they are trying to collect. Also collectors are not allowed to talk to children of a certain age. Check with your States Attorney General what the age is and make sure your child knows that if they answer a call from a collector, who has to identify themselves, not to answer any questions, not ask any questions and not to give their names. Don't use your children to screen your calls, there is no reason and it's not fair to the child. Make sure that if your child does by chance answer the call of collector make sure they know what to say not just hang up. Write it down on a board by the phone or a piece of paper and keep it by the phone. If your child cannot read practice with them using role playing. Show them how to answer and let them hear you on what to say. Have them mimic you and practice what they need to say until they get it right. Don't force younger children to learn it in one session; you might have to practice a few times.
Use our friend Tony Kollector's message as a reminder that you do have rights, the law does protect you and although it can be embarrassing don't avoid your debt. There’s a lot you can do for yourself but you have to do your homework and states may have different laws. Non-profit or charitable organizations are a good source for information. Some faith based organizations even have credit counseling for their parishioners. Most of us will tell our priest, rabbis, pastors or whoever your church leader is things we won't tell our spouses.
Don't hide, don't be afraid and don't be intimidated, the stress alone can create a harmful environment for families and will lead to other problems with your family. You and your spouse should sit down, away from the kids, and talk honestly without blame or insult about how you are going to deal with your debt. Trust me it is better to be honest with your spouse then to let it rip your relationship apart which in the end will only add stress to your life and debt to your finances. Remember most arguments among spouses are over finances. There are a lot of us out there that just are not good at finances and probably did not learn good habits from our families. I never was taught in school how to do my taxes, how to manage a banking account or protect myself from predatory lenders. Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way, by experience.
7 years from the last payment.
About a year ago, my husband got a similar letter from Northland stating that he owed $110 from a phone company back in NY (where we used to live). They referred to a phone number & address we hadn't lived in since 1998. They kept sending letters & calling stating that we had to pay this. The time of the actual debt was 2 years after we had the phone disconnected & moved. I told them no. They finally sent a letter stating the matter was resolved & that it wouldn't affect my husband's credit as it had been more than 7 years.
This company is bogus. I think they purchase this old debt that has been legally written off & pursue these individuals in the hopes some of them will pay. i suppose most people don't follow through & just send a check. I don't shirk my responsibilities, but don't come to me more than 12 years later & think I'm going to remember a $600 bill that may have gone past due. If Citibank really wanted their money from me in the '90's, they would have pursued it in a timely fashion. Instead they wrote it off for whatever reason. Northland has no authority to come after me now.
working with an Fm staion as a radio jockey. im geting end no; of calls per day from a particular number. inspite of my warning he's is repeatedly calling me whn im in office and even at home. i am totally disturbed only coz of this particular call. i don't knw who exactly this guy is. please help me out.
the no: from which iam getting wrong calls is mentioned. its 09453565677