Chase Bogus Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit

Chase Bogus Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit

By Matt O’Donnell

JPMorgan Chase was hit with a class action lawsuit last week alleging it colluded with debt collection agencies and law firms to force consumers into paying off credit card debts they didn’t actually owe.

Plaintiff Johanna N. Sierra makes some serious accusations in the class action lawsuit, including that defendants Chase, debt collector NCO Group Inc. — a subsidiary of Chase — and law firm Bickerstaff Heath Delgado & Acosta LLP “engaged in a long-running and pernicious criminal enterprise that uses deceptive and unfair debt collection practices to force consumers to pay ‘debts’ they do now owe.”

The defendants allegedly collaborated with hundreds of other law firms and debt collection agencies to abuse the legal system by seeking judgments for bogus “debts” that were larger than consumers actually owed, for “debts” already paid, or for purely fictitious “debts,” according to the class action lawsuit.

This unlawful scheme “enables sophisticated corporate entities to improperly collect vast sums of money from consumers who are usually unaware that they do not owe the money defendants seek or who lack the resources to defend themselves from defendants’ predatory behavior,” the class action lawsuit states.

As a result, Chase, NCO and the law firm unlawfully obtained hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars from consumers, Sierra says.

Sierra is seeking to represent all consumers against whom any or all of the defendants collected or attempted to collect a “debt” that was not valid, as well as a subclass that contractually paid off their debt at the request of a defendant and were later injured when a defendant continued to collect on “debts.”

It is seeking restitution, interest, treble damages and more for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The Chase False Debt Class Action Lawsuit case is Sierra v. JP Morgan Chase & Co. et al., Case No. 13-cv-656, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Sierra is represented by Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, Todd S. Garber and D. Greg Blankinship of Meiselman Packman Nealon Scialabba & Baker PC.

Updated February 4th, 2013

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