In what is believed to the first case of its kind, a US judge has found that a debt collector is not allowed to contact people via social networking sites.
The Orlando Sentinel says a court has ruled that the debt collection company, MarkOne Financial, cannot contact Melanie Beacham on Facebook about the money she owes for a car.
Beacham has alleged that MarkOne was harassing her. The suit is still pending, the report says.
“This is a new age of harassment,” Beacham’s lawyer Billy Howard, of Morgan & Morgan law firm, said.
“A couple of key strokes you can use one of the oldest debt collectors’ tricks there is… that is, to contact family members and friends.”
“Most harassment is one-on-one, but when you bring in family members and friends that’s when you really turn up the psychological pressure on people.”
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