A New York man recently filed an FDCPA lawsuit against Midland Credit Management, alleging that the company engaged in deceptive debt collection practices.
The plaintiff, Haresh J., allegedly owed a debt on a defaulted Citibank credit card. The job of collecting on this alleged debt was passed to Midland Credit Management, which sent him a letter on Feb. 7, 2018 in an attempt to collect.
According to Haresh’s FDCPA lawsuit, the letter was confusing and did not provide clear direction for what he should do.
One portion of the letter allegedly read: “The law limits how long a debt can appear on your credit report. Due to the age of this debt, we will not report payment or non-payment of it to a credit bureau.” But in a later portion of the letter, Midland wrote: “You are hereby notified that a negative credit report reflecting on your credit record may be submitted to a credit reporting agency if you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit obligations.”
These apparent contradictions were confusing for Haresh, he claims, and he was left unsure of whether or not Midland Credit would report the debt as a negative account.
Debt collection tactics should be clear to the least sophisticated consumer, but Haresh was unsure about Midland Credit Management’s intentions after receiving this letter.
Haresh filed his FDCPA lawsuit on behalf of not only himself but also thousands of others in a similar situation who have been contacted with such confusing debt collection letters from Midland Credit Management, as the company reuses the same letter template with the same points of confusion and contradiction.
The FDCPA lawsuit was filed on March 9, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The New York FDCPA
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a set of debt collection regulations meant to help protect consumers from debt collection agencies that may try to take advantage of them through abuse or harassment.
There are also a set of New York FDCPA rules that expanded on these regulations in 2015 in an effort to make regulations more friendly and favorable to the debtor. Updated New York debt collection regulations ban such unfair, abusive, or harassing practices like sending confusing debt collection letters, being unclear about the debt, making threats, making robocalls, calling too often or at inconvenient times, or communicating about the debt with third parties, among others.
According to the rules set forth by the FDCPA and New York regulations specifically, debt collection agencies have a duty to consumers to be extremely clear in their letters. A good way to think of this, in legal terms, is by referencing the “least sophisticated consumer.” Many FDCPA lawsuits allege that the “least sophisticated consumer” would be misled or confused by.
Filing a New York FDCPA Lawsuit
If you live in New York and have been affected by unfair, harassing, or abusive practices from a debt collection agency, you may be able to file an FDCPA lawsuit.
The FDCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-01495-RRM-SMG, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Join a Free New York Unfair Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
If you live in New York and a lender or debt collector engaged in unfair debt collection practices, you may have a legal claim and could be owed compensation for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
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.
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