Feb

Pennsylvania Attorney General Resolves Lawsuit Against Illinois Debt Collectors

By Stephen Otto, Pennsylvania Consumer Attorney

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett settled a lawsuit against First Credit Services and Stanley Weinberg & Associates of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The offending debt collectors will pay $20,000 in fines and costs to resolve the suit.

The Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection alleged that the Illinois collectors violated the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law, Pennsylvania’s Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to allegations made by the Bureau, the offending collectors engaged in a pattern of abusive debt collection by doing the following:

Use of abusive and obscene language;
Contacting third parties including neighbors, friends, employers and family members;
Contact with the intent to abuse, annoy or harrass;
Unreasonable volume of calls within a certain period of time;
Impermissible disclosures to third parties regarding the debt owed;
Calls to the consumers’ place of employment when it was known that such calls were not authorized by the employer;
Misrepresentation of the legal status of the debt;
Use of deceptive or fraudulent means to coerce payment or obtain financial status.

Victimized consumers reported receiving threats that their wages would be garnished, their homes would be taken, or that they were in some sort of serious, perhaps criminal, legal trouble.

Attorney General Tom Corbett emphasizes that Pennsylvania consumers must understand that conduct by debt collectors similar what is described above is illegal.

Consumers should also be aware that pursuing abusive debt collectors for illegal conduct is not limited to the purview of the Attorney General’s Office. Private attorneys may also pursue these cases on behalf of consumers. Consumers are entitled to $1,000 in statutory damages at minimum, even if there are no actual damages. Of course, if there are actual damages, like emotional distress, an offending debt collector’s liability can far exceed the minimum statutory damages. In addition, victimized consumers are entitled to have their attorney fees paid.

Source: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/pa_first_credit.html

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