Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Creditors calling work
My wife put a stop payment on a check. A check company notified me of this and demanded immediate payment. After reviewing what happened I contacted the company to arrange paymnets (all of this happened in one day). The company demanded immediate payment by Western Union and told me that it would not except partial payment. The man gave me 1 day to do so or threatened to contact my employer (Supervisor I am military). I could not pay the full amount and told him so and he said he didn't care and I will do it. I did not (could not) and he contacted my command supervisor which got me into trouble at work. He has since contacted me at home and work. He does not identify his company name when he calls and leaves messages. I have these saved. I will pay and have every intention to do so but my questions are:
1. Can creditors refuse partial payments and demand only full payment.
2. Can a creditor call my place of employment and directly speak to my supervisors about my debt?
3. Does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act differ greatly for California? Which state statutes do they (creditors) have to abide by? Their own or the state in which they are calling?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Creditors calling work
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act are both federal statutes which must be followed by collection agencies and credit reporting agencies. Generally a "debt collector" should not call you at your place of employment after you have requested that they not contact you there. However, contacting your commanding office is different from contacting you, and may not be covered by the Act; although it may give rise to other remedies, depending on what the collector told your commanding officer.
All of the information you need to respond to this situation is on the Federal Trade Commission's website at www.ftc.gov. The FTC is the federal government's enforcement agency overseeing debt collectors.
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