A class-action complaint has been filed in federal court in Massachusetts, accusing a company of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by not responding to a dispute request that was submitted by an individual after receiving a collection letter from the defendant.
A copy of the complaint in the case of Kayla Lee, also know as Kayla Bell v. Midland Credit Management can be accessed by clicking here.
The plaintiff received a collection letter from the defendant last October. In November, within the 30-day window to dispute a debt or request original creditor information, the plaintiff requested validation of the debt. The defendant did not respond to the request for original creditor information and continued to attempt to collect on the debt.
The complaint accuses the collector of violating Section 1692g(b) of the FDCPA by not ceasing collecting efforts until it provided the validation information requested by the consumer. The plaintiff is seeking to include anyone who lives in Massachusetts, received a collection letter from the defendant, disputed the debt and requested validation information, which ultimately was not provided to those individuals.
In asserting that the plaintiff had standing to sue, the complaint states that the plaintiff expended time to ascertain what her options and possible responses could or should be. She was also allegedly deprived of her “legally protected” right not to be mislead or treated unfairly as a result of the “material” misrepresentations allegedly made by the defendant. If not for the alleged violations of the defendant, the plaintiff “would have pursued a different course of action,” according to the complaint.
