Looking for a Past Owner
We’ve been getting a lot of calls to our home phone number in the last few months. We don’t really give out, or even use, our land line very much, so we’re always suspicious of who’s calling us when it rings. We typically think it’s a telemarketer, even though we’re on the Do Not Call list.
But recently it’s not telemarketers on the line. It’s collections agencies. And the people calling us are looking for someone that owned our house 2 owners prior to us. That owner last lived here about 8 years ago. Based on the conversations we have with the callers they seem to think we are covering for the person they’re looking for. These discussions are a lot of fun. They usually go like this…
Amy B: Hello?
Caller: Hello. Is Mr. So and So there?
Amy B: No, Mr. So and So doesn’t live here.
Caller: Is this the phone number for 123 Main Street?
Amy B: Yes, this is the phone number for 123 Main Street?
Caller: And Mr. So and So doesn’t live there?
Amy B: No, Mr. So and So doesn’t live here. He lived here 8 years ago, but has since moved away.
Caller: Well, can you give me his new phone number?
Amy B: No I cannot. I don’t know Mr. So and So.
Caller: How can you not know him? He lived at this address.
Amy B: He lived at this address 2 owners before me. I’ve never met him, don’t know where he lives now and have no contact information for him. Is there something I can help you with?
Caller: No, thank you. *click*
We’re getting these calls about twice a week. They’re annoying. It bothers me that the person on the other end of the phone always thinks I’m hiding Mr. So and So from them.
Have any other readers had this issue? I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. The collections people haven’t started knocking on our door looking for him. Yet.
I’ve received similar phone calls. About my neighbor. Who still lives there.
The callers have been threatening to me on occasion. Thankfully I knew better, but if I hadn’t, I might have believed that I was somehow responsible for my neighbor’s behavior and could face legal action if I didn’t help the collection agency.
The legal-looking letters are disconcerting as well.
In this case, after a couple of rounds of telephone calls and letters, I contacted the consumer protection folks at the Attorney General’s office. I told the callers I had done this and the calls stopped.
Magic.
Julie- Thanks for the tip. We had one of the collections people leave a voicemail yesterday, so I called them this morning and asked them to remove our phone number. They were polite and said they would. We’ll see. It would be easier if I knew just how many independent collections companies were calling. They never really say the company name.
Unfortunately, this exact same scenario was the reason I made the choice to no longer have a home phone! The collection agencies were chasing after a man who had my same phone number years before, but never at the same address. I pointed all this out, but they still were convinced that I was covering for a boyfriend or some other relation. The advice I got at that time was to clearly state that they are harrassing you and that you have already told them that person doesn’t live at your home, and that if they call again, you will report them. Then if they do call again, you are legally allowed to file a complaint against them.
Sooo, an interesting take on these comments: We get a lot of calls asking if we are the “human resources department of our company” as in WECA – the West End Civic Association. Also people ask for the person responsible for purchases for our company. Well, I sleep with the treasurer of WECA but we obviously have no power to buy vast quantities or have a hold on many resources. But I love playing with them –even though David has NO patience. “This is a VOLUNTEER organization”, I declare, “we have no office, no employees (sorry, Brenda, it’s just for effect0, WHAT EXACTLY are you asking about?” “Please explain in detail what your call is about! Ohhh, WELL thank you, but do you realize that WECA has no employees, no human resources Dept., no tracking of personal letters? I LOVE getting them very confused, thnen I drop them, quickly. Talk about FUN!!