New Debt Collection Lawsuit Filed Over FDCPA Violations

A New York man recently filed a complaint against Firstsource Advantage, alleging the company committed repeated FDCPA violations.

The plaintiff, Ian O., claims in his lawsuit that Firstsource Advantage uses confusing and deceptive debt collection practices. Firstsource Advantage’s FDCPA violations, Ian claims, include failing to provide a clear statement of the debt amount.

The debt collection letter Ian actually received stated that the amount of debt listed is the “total balance due at the date of this letter.” Ian argues this does not clarify what the debt will be at any given time in the future, hinting only vaguely at “timing and system limitations.” Because of this, the lawsuit claims, the consumer is left totally unaware as to what the current, actual balance of their debt might be.

Debt collection agencies have a responsibility to make their meaning clear, communicating the amount of debt adequately to the “least sophisticated consumer.” In this case, however, with the little amount of specification in the letter and the ambiguity of meaning, Ian claims, the least sophisticated consumer would likely be confused about the amount of debt due and how to satisfy that debt.

Ian is not the first New York resident to report FDCPA violations by Firstsource Advantage. Firstsource was targeted in a class action lawsuit earlier this year over similar abusive and deceptive debt collection practices.

What is The FDCPA?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a set of debt collection regulations passed back in 1978 to protect consumers like Ian from debt collection harassment and unfair practices.

The FDCPA has a number of requirements. These include strict rules about what time of day debt collectors may call consumers (only from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM). The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors like Firstsource from calling at work if a consumer objects, as well as threatening or harassing debtors.

The FDCPA says collection agents cannot make demands or threats, and instead can only offer a consumer information about their debt and how they can pay it.

New York FDCPA rules are actually more in depth than those at the federal level. The New York FDCPA expands on these federal laws. The state’s debt collection regulations were intensified back in 2015. According to these updated New York debt collection rules, debt collectors are banned from the following practices:

• Sending confusing letters
• Communicating with third parties about a debt
• Making threats
• Harassment
• Adding fees or collection charges to the debt
• Calling too often
• Calling at inconvenient times of day
• Collecting on old debts
• Making robocalls

Filing a New York FDCPA Violations Lawsuit

If you live in New York and a debt collection agency such as Firstsource Advantage has used unfair debt collection practices, committing New York FDCPA violations, you may be able to file a FDCPA class action lawsuit and gain compensation owed for FDCPA violations of federal or state debt collection requirements.

The FDCPA Violations Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-06070-JS-SIL, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.