After being discharged in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, one original creditor forwarded our client’s debt to a third party collection agency. The collection agency contacted the consumer via telephone regarding the alleged debt. Our client immediately advised the collection agency that this alleged debt had been discharged in bankruptcy and that she has an attorney. Less than 24 hours later, the same collection agency contacted the consumer, again, regarding the same alleged debt.
At this point, the collection agency was in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for attempting to collect a debt that was discharged in a bankruptcy as well as for contacting an individual they had first hand knowledge was represented by an attorney.
After our client came to us to convey the harassment she had experienced, Attorney Jill Levin then sent a demand letter to collection agency, informing them of their violations and demanding payment for damages. A senior representative from the collection agency called Attorney Levin in response to her demand letter, and stated they did a search and cannot understand why the bankruptcy did not show up, and continued to claim they did nothing wrong.
Attorney Levin advocated for her client and relied on the violations of the FDCPA, which is a strict liability statute. After numerous telephone calls between this representative and Attorney Levin, the collection agency admitted their error and a settlement was reached resulting in a payment of $1,300.00 to our client for damages suffered as a result of the FDCPA violations.
Practice Areas:
Consumer Protection