Somehow I don't think the ex-collector is returning to reply. It's impossible to comment confidently on "a bill that was closed", since that could mean many things. Was it paid off, charged-off unpaid, discharged in bankruptcy, or something else?
The one thing we do know is that FNCB traffics in a lot of old junk debt. Probably it's in the hands of a debt buyer, one which will be hard put to prove you ever owed. It's a safe bet you got a dunning letter shortly after the phone calls began, one with federally required notices telling you how to raise a dispute and seek validation. That's done through a *paper notice*, not verbally. I really hope you did those things before your 30 days expired. It's harder to fight the debt claim if you miss that.
Federal and state laws give you plenty of other tools for defending your rights and protecting your assets from lawbreakers like FNCB. Here's some official-type material on federal:
The remark on DNCR applicability was correct, but not much else.
} Cease and Desist. You can google a form letter to use
Ugh ... and find mainly windy letter templates overstuffed with empty threats and obtuse language. A good "cease-communication" notice is a straightforward affair: "Here's what you've been doing, here are the phone numbers and/or addresses affected, please stop contacting me." If this takes more than half a page, the author may have written too much.
} you need to send it registered
Sending a simple notice in a #10 envelope by USPS Registered Mail with no declared value and with a Return Receipt card (Form 3811) costs $15.14 as of USPS rate increases effective 26 Jan 2014. The same item with the same card runs $6.49 sent Certified, up from $6.11 prior to 2014. Why so many people habitually recommend "registered mail" when Certified does the same job for 2.5 times less cost I will never comprehend.
Anyway, Kathy never articulated her problem. Her complaint, like many on these sites, is fixated on nuisance calls with no concern for their purpose. We will never know almost three years later if she was considered a debtor or if FNCB was skip-tracing a stranger. If the former was the case, a full "cease-comm" could have been a poor choice of responses, potentially accelerating a creditor's decision to sue her. That's when demands for validation and limitations on contact are in order.
} receptionist will sign for it with no problem
Maybe *your* former receptionist had no problem. I find that what passes for a "signature" on the mint green card varies wildly. Very few return with a clearly printed name *and* signature, which is how it should be done. Most will skip the name or the sig, or place unreadable squiggles. Some fail to indicate the receipt date. A few use a rubber stamp for the name and/or sig. I always load and screen-capture the online USPS report so I have some corroboration. However, I've yet to have a sloppy CMRR challenged when presented as a lawsuit exhibit, so the concern is minor.
In Michigan, you can report them to the consumer protection division of the Attorney General's office (Michigan). Get as much information as you can. Try to get the name of the person calling, the times and dates, and any thing they say. When they call, be sure to state that you do not want them to call, or they have the wrong number and remove your number from their list or whatever the situation is.
When they call a third time in 2 weeks, you can fill out an online form. Yes, a real investigator contacts you. A collection agency did this to me and they said some things that were just...unmentionable for a collection agency. I received a letter of apology, they were fined and they stopped calling me
Ditto on everything everyone else has said, but, what does anyone know what you can actually do about it? I've gotten calls from all those numbers, too, but every time you turn around to try to get information as to what to do about it, you run into some other type of scam or someone trying to pick your pocket.