How Do Debt Collectors Get Family Members' Phone Numbers?

Debt collectors can get your family members' phone numbers from public directories like Whitepages or Pipl, which aggregate data from various sources.

This information can also be obtained through court records, such as judgments or liens, which are public documents.

Public records can be accessed by anyone, including debt collectors, making it easy for them to find your family members' phone numbers.

Debt collectors can also use skip tracing services to obtain phone numbers, which involve searching for a person's contact information using various databases and public records.

Recommended read: Debt Collectors Calling Family Members

Debt collectors may contact your family members to obtain your address, phone number, or place of employment.

They're only allowed to do this once per family member, which means they can't keep calling or asking the same person over and over.

A debt collector might say something like, "We're trying to locate John Doe. Do you have their current contact information?" but they can't reveal that you owe a debt.

They can't disclose the reason for their inquiry, so they'll often phrase it in a way that sounds innocuous.

Related reading: Can Debt Collectors Go after Family of Deceased

If your family member co-signed on a loan or credit card with you, they're equally responsible for the debt, and debt collectors can contact them directly about repaying the debt.

Debt collectors can contact your family members to locate you, but they're only allowed to do this once per family member, and they can't disclose that you owe a debt.

A debt collector might call your sister and ask for your current contact information, but they can't say that you owe them money and need to be found.

For another approach, see: How to Find Out Which Debt Collectors You Owe

If a debt collector is having trouble finding you, they may contact your family members to obtain your address, phone number, or place of employment.

Debt collectors can only contact each family member once to try to locate you. They can't contact multiple family members in a row.

They're not allowed to disclose that you owe a debt when contacting your family members. They have to phrase it in a way that doesn't reveal the true reason for the inquiry.

For example, a debt collector might call your sister and ask, "We're trying to locate John Doe. Do you have their current contact information?" They can't say, "John Doe owes us money, and we need to find him."

If your family member co-signed on a loan or credit card with you, they're equally responsible for the debt. This means debt collectors can contact them directly about repaying the debt.

Debt collectors can contact a co-signer at any time, but they must follow the rules set forth in the FDCPA regarding appropriate times to call and frequency of contact. They can't harass or intimidate the co-signer into paying the debt.

A co-signer can't avoid responsibility by not answering the phone or ignoring the debt collector's calls. They must still communicate with the debt collector and make payments as agreed upon.

Debt collectors can only contact a co-signer once, and they can't disclose that you owe a debt. For example, a debt collector might call your sister and say, "We're trying to locate John Doe. Do you have their current contact information?"