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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 law firm is facing claims it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Regulation F by threatening to have the plaintiff’s water turned off if a homeownership association debt was not paid off, while also communicating in emails information that the plaintiff claims was obtained through surveillance of the plaintiff’s lifestyle, travel, and entertainment activities.
The background: The defendant claimed the plaintiff owed more than $4,000 to the HOA, including $660 related to the suspension of water service. According to the complaint, state law in Georgia prohibits the suspension of water or utility service by an HOA or its agents for the purposes of debt collection.
- Back in December, the plaintiff sought to change a payment arrangement where she was expected to make a payment of $1,000 on the unpaid balance, saying she needed the funds to repair her vehicle, which was damaged by a gate maintained by the HOA. She sought to change the dates for the remaining payments, according to the complaint. The defendant replied that the HOA would proceed with shutting off the water if the balance was not paid in full that day. The plaintiff paid the balance in full.
- Threatening to have the water service turned off if the debt was not paid was a false, deceptive, or misleading representation because the HOA lacked a quorum at the time and were therefore unable to advise the defendant of anything related to the debt in question.
- The defendant was also accused of sending an email last month that contained harassing, abusive, intimidating, and humiliating statements that were designed to coerce the plaintiff into paying the debt, according to the complaint. Among the statements that were allegedly included in the email were:
- “The Las Vegas trip, live show tickets, gos knows if you gambled, looks like a blast for all y’all that went.”
- “You drove the new suv to Winterhaven Florida?”
- “Candidly you’re lucky to not have a single scratch on that thing that was so freaking waxed water was beading down the side ….”
- The tone of the email, according to the complaint, was mocking, condescending, and abusive.
The claims: The complaint accuses the defendant of violating Sections 1692d, 1692e, 1692e(5), 1692e(10), 1692f, and 1692c(b) of the FDCPA and Sections 1006.14, 1006.18, 1006.22, and 1006.6 of Regulation F.
