The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will allow debt collectors to send unlimited texts and email to try to collect debts. This is insane! I already receive 30-50 robo calls a week, several to refinance my student loans that I've never had. Consumers have 90 days to submit, in writing, their opinions on this matter. It seems funny that they don't want texts or emails.
The CFPB is a government body that does not collect debts. They are likely soliciting feedback on the policy to limit debt collectors use of texts and e-mails. Most phones do allow you to block numbers so that fixes the text issue. Changing your e-mail address should fix the other part. Robo calls from spoofed phone numbers are an entirely different issue that definitely needs to be addressed.
Yep, wife and I get inundated with them. I get probably 3 a day trying to sell me a life alert bracelet due to my condition. The thing is I don't have any known medical condition. I'm 35 with a clean bill of health. I asked them once what they knew that I didn't, they hung up on me and called back an hour later with the same shtick. The wife has gotten probably 25 in the last week saying if she doesn't call back immediately they're going to issue a warrant for her arrest. They never say who "they" are, and it's not a person but the same exact recording calling from slightly different numbers so you can't block them. It's gotten ridiculous.
True, but you have to know each number to block, and there's a max. I've been at Verizon's max for years...plus I use NoMoRobo, which still lets one ring thru. Changing email address isn't trivial, especially if you've had it a long time. Everyone you know and do business with uses it. These are problems at the other end. Why should individuals be saddled with trying to find solutions. Unfortunately, pushing responsibility out to end user has become current business model...
Because the original subject of this thread is not about robodialers. It is about the right of a third party, that has purchased an obligation(debt) that an individual has incurred, to contact that individual via text or e-mail. And at what frequency they are allowed to do so. The key issue here is that a debt exists. The CFPB request for comment is not about random people dialing you trying to sell warranties or telling you the IRS is going to foreclose on your house. We've gotten off an a tangent about robodialers and telemarketing in general. The OP has confused two different issues IMHO. And yes, the robodialer/telemarketing issue needs to be addressed. And no, I do not work for a debt collection company.
True again...but my post wasn't about third party rights or incurred debt. It was specifically about "fixes" for individuals trying to deal with business practices that could be defined as harassment...
I thought I was the only one who did this. I have an old Radio Shack personal alarm that is annoying as hell and LOUD! It works.
I am not confused about two different issues. I get so many calls about repaying student loans that I have never had that I checked my credit report to see if someone stole my ID. No one stole my ID, but I Googled my name and found that there is someone with my exact name in another state that has defaulted on student loans. It seems that we're just a number when applying for a loan, but they just use a name when trying to collect a debt.I understand that a creditor has the right to collect a debt, but they need to go after the correct person, not just someone with the same name. I feel sorry for someone named John Smith.
