I do NOT have a debt with BOA but rather with Wachovia/Wells Fargo.I do have a checking account with BOA but nothing is owed to them by me. Is htere any connection?
I am not an attorney nor a financial or debt consultant. Just an average Joe with some experience with these folks. This is the credit card service branch for Bank of America. They call themselves "Card Services." or "FIA Card Services". It used to be the credit card servicing arm for MBNA but went with the other holdings of MBNA to Bank Of America when BoA bought MBNA a little over a year ago. They are very agressive about debt collection and will call you dozens of times a day as well as call your neighbors, your boss and anyone else they can find a working number for who they think knows you, just in order to get to you. They will search utility records in your area and pull up everyone with your last name (or one near it in spelling) and call them all until they find a relative who knows you. They basicly dare you to prove they broke any FDCPA or FOIC rules in gathering information with which to contact you. I know personally they have used illegal means for obtaining information, but unless your friends and neighbors recognized their phissing efforts at the time of the call and are willing to testify as to exactly what type of responses the caller was trying to elicit from them, or have the presence of mind to tape the call, and you can prove that you suffered material damages from these contact methods they used, you won't have much of a chance calling them to account under FDCPA. It is very had to prove phone harrassment without a lot to time and effort on your part and they know that. It is the basis of their complete lack of respect for the law. In the meantime, they will call you from 20 or thirty different numbers out of a dozen or more different call centers around the country. Good luck ignoring them, if you can. If you don't, ask first who they are and who they are calling for. Try to get the exact spelling of the name and address they have and the account number and if possible a SS# for whomever they are trying to contact. In doing that, never give them any other contact information for yourself, except what they have repeated to you over the phone from their records. If it is right, keep you mouth shut. If it is wrong tell them so. You can expect the usual good guy-bad guy treatment during such a call, where sometimes you will be called by a first class jerk and another time by a deceptively sweet collector, but it always desolves into the same boneheaded, "our informtion is 100% right and you owe us", despite the facts that the SSN they have isn't right, and/or the address isn't right and/or even that your last name is different from that on the account they are trying to collect. These call center people have no ability or incentive to right any wrongs like this, so there is no point in trying to get them to correct anything that is not right.
If that is the problem, you are best advised to demand that the discussion move to paper and mail and insist that they not call you again about it. Tell them you want them to provide written verification of the account by providing the name and address of the present account owner, the name and address of the original creditor grantor, the original account number and a debit/fine/fee charge and payment history for the original account and any copies of documents with the account holder's signature on them, such as applications, charge receipts or other debt instruments. They are supposed to send you this information within 30 days of your request. If they don't they have violated FDCPA. If they do send you something, the chances are it will not comply with all your requests; maybe none of them. So, write a second letter demanding these verifications and in it reiterate this is your second demand for this informaion and enclose a copy of what they sent you pointing out its deficiencies with respect to your demands, then, in writing, reiterat your phone demand that they stop calling you, your mother/father/boss/neighbor or whomever else they have accosted to get to you. Mail it off certified mail, signature receipt return. From that point on, you might want to talk to an attorney or other professional who has more knowledge than I do about how to best handle your particular situation. You will have the start of a good defense if they fail a second time to provide any meaningful verification of the debt, and they often do fail. Good luck.
I receive calls (I do not owe money). I am the "relative" of a person they are seeking. You are correct in that they do not ever tell me that this person owes money. They are not looking for the same person each time, though. We have received to date 7 calls from B of A, each one from a different source number, and re: a different B of A with the same first name, different last name, as my husband.
Call received today around 12:30PM but no message left. I have already spoke to Bank of America regarding accounts so there would be no reason for the call.
got a call about a supposed neighbor. no idea who they are, but the address they gave is on my street. is there someone i can call as to avoid future calls?