Commercial Account

[Harmless Drudge]

I am currently formulating a dispute of an account with a collection agency. They claim that my business has a commercial Master Card that was secured with a personal guarantee. I know for a fact that I never submitted a physical or electronic signature to apply for any such account.

The problem is that the collection agency to whom the account was sold or assigned is pursuing a very aggressive collections procedure based on the premise that a commercial account is governed by the UCC and the FDCPA does not apply. They are harrassing my 80 y/o stepfather at an address I lived at 15 years ago. They are threatening to bother my employers, customers, and suppliers. They are investigating my business and personal assets. They are claiming that because my business is a public entity (LLC), they will be allowed to answer any and all questions that these people (family, friends, employers, business contacts, customers, suppliers, etc.) ask the agency when the agency calls to harrass them.

The funny thing is, they were willing to tell me the date on which the account was supposedly opened, but not the time, place, or which of my businesses the account is opened for. They were very rude and condescending when they described to me that I am required by law to keep records of such things for 7 years. I neither confirmed nor denied anything, and I gave them no information to add to their arsenal. I asked that they e-mail me information about the account. From this point on I have no ambition to transact anything with them except via certified mail. Had they not called me out of the blue, I never would have spoken with them on the phone.

1) Can they in fact divulge this information to all and sundry?
2) Will a drop dead letter serve the same purpose for a commercial account as it does for a personal account?
3) What do I need to do to stop them from trying to destroy my business and get me fired?
4) I would like to do this in such a way that I can seek damages if they screw up. This would, of course, just be a nicd bonus, and is not the main purpose of my intentions.

What do I do?

[chane]

Unfortunately, this type of behavior by collection agencies is still typical in America even though we supposedly have laws to stop this from happening.

Keep a paper trail for everything you do.

NOTHING good can happen by talking to them on the phone. Do not answer their calls. Send a CMRRR(Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested) Cease & Desist letter demanding that they stop contacting you by phone, stop contacting your family at all, and stop discussing this debt with anyone other than you. Include that all correspondence must be by mail from here on out. (You don't want to cut them off completely. That pisses them off and they will probably sue.)

Find out about recording laws in your state and record all further phone calls if the law allows, keep records of everything they do. Get written statements from anyone who reports to you that they have contacted them.

Harassment is harassment. Don't ever let anyone threaten you like that. File a complaint with their local police department, report them to your state's attorney general, to the FTC, to the BBB, local newspapers, and to anyone else who will listen. Keep copies of these letters.

If it keeps up, you should probably contact an attorney. How much are they saying you owe?

Most of all, do not let them get to you. If you let them cause you stress and worry, they win - bottom line.

[Harmless Drudge]

Thank you for the response. I have absolutely no problem dealing with threats and brinkmanship in most situations. My particular concern is that they are claiming that because the account in question is a commercial account and not a personal account, they have free rein to do whatever they want. They are claiming this is because I signed a personal guarantee (I looked at the date in question, and I was nowhere near a computer or a place where I could have opened the account, so I know that's false) that they can come after me personally. They are basically mixing and matching aspects of commercial collections with those of personal collections and hoping I won't contradict them.

So my specific question is where do I draw the line? I know the law down pat when it comes to personal collections, but am ignorant of commercial collection law.

[chane]

Originally Posted by Harmless Drudge

So my specific question is where do I draw the line? I know the law down pat when it comes to personal collections, but am ignorant of commercial collection law.

Just because there are no official federal laws governing commercial collections doesn't mean they are not breaking other laws. I was trying to point out to you that harassment is against the law in any form. More importantly, you can also seek damages. You just have to be able to prove it and that's the most difficult part.

Cease and desist letters are used for many things, not just for collection law.

There may also be state commercial collection laws that can help you. I wish I could help you more, but without being a lawyer, there is not much other advice I can offer you.