Consumers Claim FDCPA Violations by Wisconsin Debt Collection Company

Three consumers claim that Enhanced Recovery Company, a Wisconsin debt collection company, committed FDCPA violations by sending misleading debt collection letters to her and many other consumers.

Wisconsin plaintiffs Jean K., Rachel H., and Jane R. claim that Enhanced Recovery Company, a Wisconsin debt collection agency, misrepresented their rights and information necessary for them to respond appropriately to the information about their debt, by sending misleading debt collection letters — all alleged FDCPA violations.

Enhanced Recovery’s Alleged FDCPA Violations

Jean says that she received the first debt collector letter from the Enhanced Recovery Company on or around Aug. 2, 2017, telling her that she owed a credit card debt of $685.90 to Barclays Bank Delaware, and that she had 30 days to verify that the debt was indeed valid.

She alleges that the letter sent on Aug. 2, 2017 was a form letter, and is considered a “debt collection letter.” Jean also alleges that it was the first time that the Wisconsin company attempted to contact her about this debt.

She says that the letter was accompanied by a statutory validation notice, as is required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Allegedly, that validation notice stated again that “unless you dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, within thirty (30) days after your receipt of this notice, the debt will be assumed to be valid by us.”

Jean alleges that Enhanced Recovery Company then mailed her a second form letter on or around Aug. 3, 2017, that used the same language. She says this letter also notified her that she had 30 days to confirm that the debt was valid, and that if she did not confirm within 30 days, the debt would automatically be considered valid.

Jean claims that the two letters give conflicting information, unlawfully misleading her as to the nature of her debt. Jean argues that it is possible that a consumer could be confused by whether they had 30 days to validate the debt starting from the date they received the first letter, or whether they had 30 days from the date they received the second letter, because both letters bore the same language.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allegedly requires a debt collector to give the debtor thirty days from the first communication to validate the debt. According to the FDCPA Enhance Recovery Company class action lawsuit argues that “nothing in the FDCPA permits and extension or re-starting of the validation period once the consumer receives the letter containing the validation notice.”

Rachel H. claims that she also received misleading debt collection communications from Enhanced Recovery Company, alleging more FDCPA violations by the company. Rachel says she received a letter from them notifying her that she owed a debt to AT&T. As is the case in Jean’s communication from the company, Rachel’s letter also allegedly notified her that she had 30 days from her receipt of the letter to validate the debt.

However, she claims that the letter demands payments barely a month after the letter was sent out, denying her the allotted 30 days to validate or deny the debt and violating the FDCPA.

The third plaintiff, Jane R. claims that she received a form letter from Enhanced Recovery Company notifying her that she owed a credit card debt to TD Bank USA/Target Credit, edited with the specifics of her case.

She claims that the letter she received stated that the company is “willing to reduce your outstanding balance by offering a discounted payoff amount of $261.01.” She claims that the letter then went on to state “we are not obligated to renew this offer.”

Allegedly, this letter was misleading because it did not provide an expiration date, and therefore, Jane and consumers who received similar letters would be confused because they would not know how long they had to accept or reject the offer.

The Enhanced Recovery Company FDCPA Violations Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-01113, in the U.S. District Court for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division.

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DISCLAIMER: Debt collection itself is not illegal. However, debt collection firms collecting on consumer debts must adhere to the FDCPA. Even though debt attorneys are investigating these companies, their debt collection practices may be legal.