FDCPA Lawsuit Filed Against Wisconsin Law Firm

A Wisconsin resident filed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuit last month that accused a debt collection law firm, Heuer Law Offices S.C., of violating fair debt collection practices.

Plaintiff James Z. claimed in the FDCPA lawsuit that he was obligated to pay a debt his wife owed for medical bills and household expenditure.

Allegedly, before Heuer contacted the plaintiff to discuss debt collection, James and his wife, Jacqueline Z., began to make payments on the debt to another debt collection agency, State Collection Service. James claimed in the FDCPA lawsuit that he and his wife paid $3,626 of the $5,426.69 owed before Aug. 20.

However, on Aug. 18, Heuer claimed that the debt was still owed in full. The debt collection attorneys allegedly told the plaintiff that they were a law firm authorized to file a lawsuit against them for the recovery of the debt.

The unfair debt collection lawsuit said that James called Heuer on Aug. 20 to discuss the matter with an attorney who was responsible for his case. Upon providing the appropriate information, he was transferred to a person called Melanie. The FDCPA lawsuit alleges that Melanie was not an attorney though the plaintiff was allegedly “led to believe that Melanie was an attorney,” according to the FDCPA lawsuit.

Melanie advised that James he had not made any payments to State Collection Service and that he was entirely responsible for its debt, even though the debt belonged to his wife. She allegedly claimed that the only option was to pay $400 per month or a lawsuit would be filed against him by the end of September.

James called on Sep. 14 when he was allegedly reminded that legal action would be taken against him if he did not make a payment. Additionally, the FDCPA lawsuit claimed Melanie told the plaintiff that his possessions might be taken if he did not begin payments with Heuer.

James made no payments to Heuer, and no lawsuit was filed against him. Instead, he filed a FDCPA lawsuit against Heuer accusing the debt collection law firm of several violations.

Heuer was accused of using false, deceptive, and misleading information and tactics against James. The debt collection lawyers allegedly threatened that the plaintiff’s possessions could be removed, although that was not legal.

The FDCPA lawsuit claimed the defendants also ignored the payments already made on the debt, falsely communicated information from someone who was not an attorney, threatened to file a lawsuit against the plaintiff without the intention of doing so, and “was otherwise deceptive and failed to comply with the provisions of the FDCPA,” according to the FDCPA lawsuit.

James asked the court for compensatory damages, statutory damages, attorneys fees and costs, and any other relief that the court deems appropriate.

Many FDCPA lawsuits have been filed by people like James Z. against debt collection agencies that failed to follow the rules of the FDCPA.

This FDCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 2:14-cv-01409, in the U.S. 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.