I got a collection call today for a sibling of mine. I said nobody by that name lives here. Does that mean he put my phone number down on an application of some sort? Im married with a different last name, why would they call here??

Yep --

Usually you are asked on medical bills and sometimes other types of credit applications for the name of the nearest relative not living with you.

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Grace

Wife to Stoney

Mommy of Sarah (9), Hannah (7.5), and John(5)

We got collection calls for several months for my SIL who lives near us. She claims she did not put us as a reference. The mortgage company, yes it was her mortgage she was way behind on, say they got our name by looking up where she lived and calling her neighbors. Legal? Don't think so.

We had to end up contacting our state's Attorney General to get the calls stopped. They were being very rude, mean and threatening to us - and we have no dealings at all with that company!

I once worked for a cc collection agency. There are many ways that they could have gotten a hold of your number. Continue to say that no one lives there by that name and they are suppose to remove your name and number from their calling list as a possible contact. Document how many times they call you and the dates. I cant remember the laws (and I think all states could be different) but they cant call you after a certain time of night and also if they speak to you in person (even if you say you dont know the person they are looking for) they can only talk to you once a day. Dont hold me to it. That was over six years ago that I did that, so things may have changed.

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Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.
Jon Bon Jovi

My brother in law and sister in law (DH's brother) have gotten calls for his dad at HER mom's house! They do live their on and off at times (they can't seem to get their act together at all) but obviously my husband's father has never lived with the brother's mother in law.

I know my mom occasionally gets mail still for my dad and what is even more strange my step mother (without my dad's name being on there) but that is generally just junk mail.

I think collection agencies just tend to use whatever means they can to try to locate the person. I would hate to have them calling my house though!

Funny thing is my mom gets mail at her house for my SIL's brother who has passed, and now his ex-wife! No relation whatsoever -- this is my brothers wifes ex-sisterinlaw!! It makes no sense and nobody could figure out the correlation.

Anyway, so far this has been the only call. Im hoping there wont be others.

I get mail for my Dad at my house too. We have different last names and he never lived here. Its not collection type stuff but solicitations for various products or AARP.

__________________
Grace

Wife to Stoney

Mommy of Sarah (9), Hannah (7.5), and John(5)

For awhile I was getting calls about my sister. They asked for her phone number but I said that I couldn't give out someone elses number without their permission. Then they kept calling asking to leave a number and a message for her to call it. I did give her the number but of course she didn't call it! When they called the next time I told them that I had given her the message a couple of times already and I politely asked them not to call my number any more. Thankfully they were nice and the calls stopped!

Believe it or not, my mothers neighbour once got a call for a collection agency after my brother. They were very sneaky, asking her if my brothers car was in the driveway....it wasn't. She just assumed it was some old friend trying to track him down. They never said who they were, but with the amount of calls from collectors, my mom put two and two together.

They are very shifty.