What can I do if a debt collector contacts my family?
Last updated: 2026-07-10 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
A collector who contacts your family, relatives, or anyone in your phone other than a person you named as a co-maker or guarantor is committing an unfair debt-collection practice under SEC Memorandum Circular 18 (2019). Document each contact (who was reached, when, and what was said), send a written cease-contact demand, and file with the SEC (which supervises lending/financing companies) and the National Privacy Commission if your contacts were harvested (RA 10173). LabanPH generates the cease-contact demand letter and the regulator complaints for free.
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Frequently asked
Can they ever contact a relative?
Only a relative you formally named as a co-maker or guarantor on the loan may be contacted, and only in that capacity. Anyone listed merely as a 'reference,' or a relative pulled from your phone, cannot be contacted about your debt under SEC MC 18.
My family was told I'd be 'arrested' — is that legal?
No. Threatening arrest for an unpaid loan is doubly unlawful: it is a false representation barred by SEC MC 18, and no one may be jailed for debt (1987 Constitution, Art. III §20). Screenshot it — it strengthens your complaint.
What should I tell my family to do?
Have them note the caller's name and number and not to disclose your information, then keep those notes. A relative is under no obligation to pay or to answer a collector, and their statements become evidence for your SEC and NPC filings.
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Your rights when a lender or collector harasses you, contacts your family, or threatens you — and how SEC MC 18 limits them.