Consumer complaint received 2018-07-10
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY
State: NJ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Frequent or repeated calls

Complaint:
I am a NJ consumer filing a formal complaint against XXXX XXXX for abusive and harassing calling practices, unnecessary skip tracing, third party disclosure about a debt and deceptive collection tactics. 

Parties involved : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Debt Collector name = XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX Collection Manager name = XXXX XXXX Original Creditor name = TD Bank Credit Card - XXXX An account was placed with their office on XX/XX/18 with two good phone numbers, a cell phone number and a work number. Since placement, this agency has called both numbers repeatedly several times in a single day, multiple times a week using both an auto-dialer and manual calling efforts. The voicemail clearly identifies my full name so they know they have good location information. Additionally, they call my wife at her place of business on an out of state number. I have call logs, voicemails, cell phone screenshots, and a recorded call to prove these harassing call practices have been taking place and support the validity of this complaint. 

Today, Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX the debt collector assigned to my account, XXXX XXXX reached me on my cell phone as I was driving and I hung up. At XXXX he called my cell phone again and I did not answer. He then called my work number at XXXX and again at XXXX according to my caller id. 

At XXXX he called a relative with the same name ( my father ) on his home landline number which is listed to a different address. He knew I could not be reached at this number and identified his company name and insinuated the call was about a debt. He did not ask for my contact information, but did say it was " Very Important that I contact him '' and he asked my father to get a hold of me to have me call him back. Out of concern for his son, my father called me right away. My father has a XXXX XXXX and was previously unaware that I had any financial hardship or past due bills. This message that was left with him caused unnecessary/undue stress on him. XXXX XXXX put my father 's health at risk today. 

If leaving a message with my father wasn't enough, at XXXX he contacted my uncle at his private home number. Again, for the sole purpose of harassing me and to inform a relative that XXXX " XXXX '' is looking to speak with me, he instructed my uncle to get in touch with me and have me call his office. 

If leaving a message with another relative was not enough, at XXXX he contact another relative with an entirely different last name and did the same thing. 

At XXXX he contacted my cousin on his MD cell phone number and asked for me when my cousin picked up. Despite purposefully calling the wrong number in an entirely different state in an effort to get my attention, he still asked if he was reaching the right party. This is a deceptive collection tactic. A debt collector does not need to disclose details of a debt in order for a third party to know it is a collection call when his company 's name consists of the word " XXXX ''. 

Then at XXXX he contacted another out of state cousin on his AZ cell phone. This time he was rude and aggressive and made it very clear that he was a debt collector. He knew he would not reach me on an out of state number so it is very clear that his intentions were not to get a hold of me, but to get my attention and prompt a call back. 

In 10 minutes he left messages with at least 5 relatives ( that I know of ). This was at least a 22 minute time span that he spent on my account trying to leave as many messages that he could with as many relatives that he could find. 

At XXXX I called XXXX XXXX back and recorded our 20 minute conversation. 
He stated that the original creditor had provided him with all of the numbers he dialed today which is a lie and should be considered a deceptive business practice. When I expressed how upset I was about him calling my relatives, he admitted that he was pleased that his efforts paid off and he achieved the desired result of getting me to call back. He also stated that his actions were a part of his company 's normal business practices and felt he was not at all out of line by leaving so many live messages with so many different third parties while knowingly calling numbers that I could not be reached on. When I asked what skip trace tools he was using to reach out of state cell phone numbers for my relatives he refused to tell me. When I asked him to play/send me the call recordings of the 5 conversations he had today, he refused. He had a rude tone, made snide remarks and continued to cut me off several times as I was speaking to talk over me in an attempt to redirect the conversation to talk about the debt and not about how he managed to get me on the phone. 

I asked to speak to a manager and he transferred me to XXXX XXXX. I received the same treatment from him and he stated that his collector did nothing wrong and no company policies were broken. I advised him I would be filing a complaint with the CFPB and he did not care, as if there wasn't any repercussions that would ever come from such a complaint. I further requested that he cease and desist all phone contact with me. He told me that I must notify him in writing in order for this request to be valid. That is when I provided him with my attorney 's contact information and advised all future communication needs to be directed to him. 

After looking at the company 's website, they have a large section that reads " We take compliance concerns seriously '' and " Please contact our Compliance Department to address and concerns you may have ''. So I called back and asked to speak with someone in their compliance department and the person ( XXXX ) that picked up said there was no compliance department and wanted to transfer me back to the manager I was speaking with. 

This company is very unprofessional and is not operating in compliance with the FDCPA and NJ state collection laws that are in place to protect consumers. They need to be shut down.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief