Many families who have just lost a loved one have had to deal with the unfortunate task of dealing with the debt left behind after death. One widowed woman is suing Bank of America Home Loan Servicing, saying they called her as many as 48 times a day demanding payment.

CNNMoney (via Gawker) says that in Deborah Crabtree’s complaint against BoA, she details how she had her answering machine ready during his wake to accept condolence messages after losing her husband to cancer. But instead, the day after he passed, she started receiving what she says were harassing phone calls from BoA.

She said “a debt collector from Bank of America Home Loan Servicing called every 15 minutes and left harassing messages about the debts her husband had left behind that everyone in the house could hear.”

The calls got up to about 48 times a day after his wake, and included threats to foreclose on her home. When she would answer and say she needed 30 days to get her affairs in order and receive her husband’s life insurance check, they told her the calls were computer-generated and thus, couldn’t be stopped.

Her lawsuit claims BoA violated state debt collection laws. They have yet to respond and aren’t commenting on Crabtree’s case, but a spokeswoman told CNN that in general, the bank informs family members when they aren’t responsible for the debt of a deceased relative.

Debt after death: Banks chase down mourners [CNN]

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