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DISCLAIMER: This article is based on a complaint. The defendant has not responded to the complaint to present its side of the case. The claims mentioned are accusations and should be considered as such until and unless proven otherwise.
A collector is facing a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act class-action lawsuit over sending an undated validation notice and for allegedly attempting to collect an incorrect amount, which added nearly 1,200% in fees to the amount of the unpaid balance.
The Background: The plaintiff received a Model Validation Notice — undated — from the defendant. The notice included an itemization table. The table informed the plaintiff that as of June 28, 2022, she owed $274.09. Between June 28, 2022 and the date the notice was received, there was $0.00 in interest charged, $3,215.94 in fees charged, and $0.00 in credits applied to the account.
- The plaintiff disputed the debt and received a validation notice from the defendant, which included the final invoice for the bill, covering the period of October 19, 2020 to January 25, 2022. That notice had no fees charged to the account, according to the complaint.
- Because the notice did not include any context or additional information about the fees that were being added to the account and because the final date of the bill predated the itemization date of the notice, the plaintiff now suspected there was some sort of fraudulent activity on her account. This led her to not make any payments on the debt.
The Claims: The complaint accuses the defendant of violating Sections 1692d, 1692e, 1692e(2)(A), 1692e(10), 1692f, and 1692g of the FDCPA.
- The complaint also seeks to include anyone else living in New York who received a collection communication from the defendant that included an improper amount of fees, and anyone who recieved an undated notice from the defendant.
