The Better Credit Blog | Answering Your Credit Questions & Free Negotiation Dispute Letters

Reader’s Question

Dear Ryan,
I did not give a debt collector my bank account number, but I saw they tried collecting from my account. Is there any other way for them to get my account information, legally? Or should I pursue legal actions against them?

My Response

Hi [name removed],
There are a couple of things you should do before pursuing legal action. First, you need to verify and be certain that it was actually this company that was attempting to collect from your bank account. I say this because unless you gave them your bank account information, there is no way they could have legally obtained it. Furthermore, they need your permission before they can take any funds from your account. Second, if you have determined that it was indeed this company, I would call them and yell at them for awhile about this issue. I would do this before pursuing legal action because lawyers aren’t cheap and you don’t want to be hasty about getting a lawyer and filing suit.

Hope this helps,
Ryan

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