Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

No. What does Verizon have to do with this?

Debt collectors are permitted to call to try to collect a debt provided that they do so within the limits of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and its counterpart under PA law (Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act).

Before you go off suing stupidly, you must first answer questions for yourself:

(1) is this a debt for which you are financially responsible?

(2) if its not your debt have you calmly asked the debt collector what this is for? Do you know who it is and what this is about? Have you written the debt collector a letter, sent via certified mail return receipt requested, telling them this is NOT your debt, asking for verification of the debt if they believe otherwise and to send you a fraud affidavit and asking that there be no further phone calls at work or cell and give them your mailing address?

(4) if this is a debt for which you are responsible, has the debt collector sent you a written letter about the debt? If they say yes, ask them to please re-send and provide your address. If they say no, tell them to send a written letter and you will review it. If they do not send a written letter in 5 business days, then you need to write a letter, sent via certified mail return receipt requested, to them demanding verification of the debt, asking that all contact be in writing and sent to your address at home.

Notice that nowhere in the above is suing Verizon. Verizon is not the responsible party. If you have taken the above steps and the debt collector violates the law by refusing to provide validation of the debt and still calls you, then you need to see a consumer law/FDCPA/FCRA attorney who specializes in dealing with this. I know Larry Rubin (www.pennlawyer.com) here at Law Guru is one such attorney but I am sure there are others. Many attorneys give free consults for something like this.

Please email me at [email protected] if you require further help in dealing with the debt collector.