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A California woman claims AT&T’s false debt collection practices have damaged her credit and left her feeling “deceived, anxious, and harassed.”
Plaintiff Susan Whiting claims defendant AT&T Corporation has been unlawfully trying to collect a debt from her that doesn’t actually exist.
On behalf of herself and a proposed plaintiff Class, Whiting’s AT&T false debt class action lawsuit is seeking statutory damages under California and federal consumer protection laws.
Whiting says that starting in September 2016, AT&T began erroneously billing her for equipment and services she never ordered and never received.
The company apparently charged her for renting its modem and other internet equipment, when in fact Whiting had been using her own equipment. The plaintiff says she never even requested the equipment for which she was being billed.
Whiting says AT&T sent her letters in an attempt to collect the debt, letters that she says were full of misrepresentations. She claims these letters misstated the nature and legal status of the debt, the services rendered in the attempt to collect it, and the amount owed, among other things.
In her AT&T class action lawsuit, Whiting claims AT&T acted in violation of California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The RFDCPA provides consumers with several broad protections against abusive debt collection practices, in part by incorporating references to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Generally, these consumer protection laws forbid debt collectors from using false or deceptive representations or deceptive means in the course of attempting to collect a debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer.
Collectors are also prohibited from collecting an amount that is prohibited by law or that is not expressly authorized by the agreement that created the debt.
The act makes it unlawful for a collector to falsely represent the nature or legal status of the debt, or to falsely represent any compensation the collector may lawfully demand for their services provided in the course of collecting the debt.
The RFDCPA’s protections extend to alleged debtors as well as actual debtors – so a person who is the subject of false debt collection attempts can also use the act to protect themselves.
According to Whiting, both state and federal laws provide for $1,000 in statutory damages for each person affected by the alleged AT&T false debt collection practices.
Whiting proposes to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons in the U.S. who were subject to AT&T false debt collection efforts via mail for equipment charges that the purported Class Member had no knowledge of. She expects Class Members will number in the thousands.
She seeks an award of damages that would include $1,000 in statutory damages for herself and for each Class Member. She also seeks reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, plus any other relief the court deems appropriate.
Whiting is represented by attorneys Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.
The AT&T False Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Susan Whiting v. AT&T Corp., Case No. 2:17-at-00076, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
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97 thoughts onAT&T Class Action Says False Debt Collection Targets Thousands
I live in Indiana. I have not had ATT for 3 years, however they hit my credit score every 6 months. No matter what I do. They claim i owe money for equipment that i returned years ago. Every 6 months I get a call from a new debt collector about AT&T. I kept the paperwork from the UPS store when I returned my equipment years ago. It is like they want you to lose the paperwork. They wil try to rob anyone they can get away with robbing. The first 2 times the company hit my credit, I spent hours on the phone with reps and Management. I have personally sent them Many Copies of the return slip. They apologize and remove it from my credit report. I think everything is fine and they hit my credit score again. I have to continue to make the same phone call every six months. Not one employee puts in the notes my last call. I have to keep sending this company copies of the return slip. The second time they hit my credit score down 60 points for something I DID NOT EVEN OWE. You would think when they apologize and remove it from your credit report that your score would bounce back where it was before being hit. WELL IT DOES NOT. who is going to give me back 160 points i lost last year for a bil that was not owed? AT&T removed it from my report but they do not have the power to give me back my points in which i have spent years to build. WHO IS GOING TO FIX THAT? SO IM JUST STUCK WITH BROKEN CREDIT FOR A DEBT I DONT OWE? Its been not one year not two year but three years. The final Call i got from AT&T i screamed at them sent them the same paper work again and i told them i was going to sue them that what they were doing was illegal. 3 years later I finally got a letter in the mail from AT&T July, 2022 claiming my debt is 0. Yes I am keeping the letter. They claim i have no debt now but after everything i have been through with them. I am not taking any more chances. Also like i said before my credit was never fix or recovered from this.
add me. if you can. san diego, i was part of a scam that I never followed through on. At&t then says i owe them 1600 for a phone I never got. Much more too.
Add me please. I have all my billing statements ready.
Add me too. I submitted a class action suit of my own against AT&T for false advertising and overpricing and lying to me, as a customer, not to mention, after being told my services would amount to around $80, they were billing money, me $200-300 just for internet and would not take my unneeded landline off that they talked me into because they said it would save me money, which it did not! Then after at least 7 months, they said I had started a new contract for my home phone so I would have to pay $400 to get it terminated! I disputed and the manager laughed at me, and said SUE US THEN! I desperately want to get in on a lawsuit because I have extreme anxiety and am disabled and they have caused so much emotional pain for more then a year with their overpricing and lies! They are already threatening to ruin my credit if I don’t pay $400 more dollars which I cannot afford on disability and shouldn’t have to pay anyway. PLEASE HELP!
Add me please
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