CMRE Financial Services Lawsuit Claims Debt Collector Violated TCPA and FDCPA

A California debt collecting company allegedly violated federal telemarketing laws while attempting to collect a debt, according to a recent CMRE Financial Services lawsuit.

Plaintiff Mary B. recently filed the CMRE Financial Services lawsuit alleging that the debt collector’s repeated phone calls were in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

After receiving medical treatment, Mary says she fell behind on her bills due to financial hardship including homelessness. In early 2018, Mary started receiving calls from CMRE Financial Services on her cell phone.

Upon answering these phone calls, Mary allegedly heard a noticeable pause before being connected with a live representative. Other times, she says she was met with a pre-recorded message before being connected to a live representative.

CRME allegedly threatened to garnish Mary’s wages for nonpayment of her debt, despite her precarious financial situation and how it would affect her ability to regain housing and financial stability.

“Any reasonable factfinder will conclude that threatening to garnish an impoverished person’s wages after he or she have been recently homeless is unfair and/or unconscionable as it threatens the precarious financial security of an individual seeking to regain a stable and healthy life,” the CMRE Financial Services lawsuit argues.

Mary reportedly told CMRE Financial Services about her financial hardship and inability to pay the debt and asked them to stop calling, but the company allegedly failed to honor this request.

“Frustrated by Defendant’s refusal to understand her position, Plaintiff demanded that Defendant stop calling her cellular phone,” the CMRE Financial Services lawsuit claims. “In spite of Plaintiff’s demand, Defendant has continued to call her cellular phone up through the filing of this action.”

In her CMRE Financial Services lawsuit, Mary claims that this behavior is in violation of the TCPA and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The TCPA prohibits businesses from using automated dialers to place phone calls without the call recipient’s prior express consent. Mary claims that the noticeable pause before her connection with a live representative strongly indicates that CMRE Financial Services was using an autodialing system.

The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors such as CMRE Financial Services from engaging “in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.” The act further prohibits using a telephone to harass consumers, including “causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.”

Together, the TCPA and FDCPA protect consumers from harassing phone calls and debt collection activities. The acts also provide avenues for consumers such as Mary to seek compensation for alleged violations.

Under TCPA, Mary seeks at least $500 and treble damages for each phone call. The CMRE Financial Services lawsuit also seeks $1,000 in statutory damages under FDCPA.

The CMRE Financial Services Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-06498 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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