Recently a law firm in Florida filed suit against a finance company for stalking one of its clients on facebook. The woman in question had purchased a car and had fallen behind on her payments. Employing what appears to be a 21st century harassment strategy, the company under the apparent name “Jeff Happenstance” began sending messages to the friends and relatives of the woman in an apparent attempt to embarrass her into paying her debt.
This is certainly the first time I have heard of a creditor using facebook as a tool for collection. It will be interesting to follow this lawsuit and see how the judge feels about this type of activity. Check back here for updates. If nothing else, it should make us cautious about the manner in which we use facebook. There are many potential litigation uses of the information people put out on the internet. For example, information about who and where you spend your time might be relevant in a divorce or custody case. A subpoena to facebook might identify how much time you spend playing farmville or mafia wars in a wrongful termination suit with an employer. The possibilities, quite frankly, are numerous.
One thing is for sure, filing bankruptcy is one sure way to stop debt collectors from bugging you, whether by phone, mail, facebook or, heaven forbid, twitter. If you think bankruptcy might be for you, check out our website at www.mcguiregardner.com, or www.bankruptcylawyeraz.com.
You can read the full article about the lawsuit at http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=156762.