Debt Collection Email Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Indiana

A proposed class action lawsuit alleging debt collection email was in violation of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division on May 31, 2018.

The plaintiff Jamie N. alleges that she was the recipient of debt collection email which started on May 3 with an initial communication and continued throughout the month.

The named defendants in Jamie’s legal action are Trueaccord Corp. and LVNV Funding LLC. According to the lawsuit narrative, Trueaccord uses debt collection email as well as other electronic means to attempt to regain funds on monies owed by consumers located in Indiana as well as elsewhere in the U.S. LVNV is a company that makes a business out of purchasing uncollected debts from financing agencies throughout the country. It is based in Las Vegas, Nev.

Jamie, a 42-year-old Indiana citizen and resident, claims that she was contacted for the first time in May regarding supposedly delinquent payments on a credit card debt originally owed to Credit One Bank NA. The plaintiffs states that the verbiage in the debt collection email didn’t follow protocol stipulated in the FDCPA with regard to certain disclosures.

In addition to finding the initial debt collection email communication lacking, Jamie indicates in her case that the defendants violated the FDCPA by not following through with a second debt collection email that had key pieces of necessary information provided such as:

• The name of the original creditor
• The amount of the debt
• A statement regarding the ability and method of disputing a debt within 30-day window
• A statement regarding what typically occurs if a debt is disputed
• A statement indicating that the name and address of the original creditor will be provided upon written request

The plaintiff indicates that she did receive additional inadequate debt collection emails on the subsequent dates of May 6, May 9, May 15, and May 20. The debt collection emails continually referenced the desire that she respond and work with them lest the defendants be forced to turn the issue over to a lawyer for review. Jamie claims that this language was deceptive and full of idle threats in violation of the FDCPA.

Finally, after visiting Trueaccord’s website following receipt of the debt collection email dated May 20, an automatic debt collection email was sent that indicated she successfully visited their website. This email was sent at 10:30 pm which is outside of the hours of 8 am and 9 pm as is necessary according to the FDCPA.

While other FDCPA violations are part of her individual complaints, the latter is the basis for the class action. Jamie identifies the class as anyone receiving an automatically-generated debt collection email from the defendant outside of the stipulated hours of 8 am to 9 pm retroactive one year from the date of filing.

The plaintiff is asking for certification of her complaint as a class action and herself as the class representative. She is asking for an award of statutory damages plus cost of litigation. Jamie asks that her individual FDCPA allegations be adjudicated with a statutory damages of $1,000 plus actual damages as proven by evidence at trial.

The Debt Collection Email Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-00209 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond 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.