Unfair Debt Collection Lawsuit Alleges Deception by Central Credit Services

A New York man has filed an unfair debt collection lawsuit against Central Credit Services LLC.

Plaintiff Yisroel S. claims he received a confusing letter in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from participating in abusive, deceptive or unfair collection practices.

Central Credit Services LLC sent Yisroel a collection letter on or about June 2, 2017. The letter said it was sent in an effort to collect on a consumer debt.

Yisroel says the letter stated an amount due, then added the verbiage, “The Amount Due above reflects the total balance due as of the date of this letter.”

According to the unfair debt collection lawsuit, those words imply the balance could increase at a later date and Yisroel “was left uncertain as to whether the ‘CURRENT BALANCE’ would increase” because there was no information indicating otherwise.

The letter did provide an itemized accounting of the debt, which is required under a New York state statute. No interest or fees had been added post charge-off.

“However, the period of time that has elapsed since charge-off is not stated in the collection letter, confusing the least sophisticated consumer as to whether interest or fees will be added in the future,” explains the unfair debt collection lawsuit.

Although most collection letters include an “amount due” or a “current balance,” few collection letters allude to an amount owed on a specific date using such language that implies the potential is there for a different balance to be owed on a different date.

FDCPA requires debt collectors to not only disclose the account balance, but also to disclose that the balance could increase due to subsequently applied interest and fees.

“The failure to include such disclosures would harm consumers such as the plaintiff who may hold the reasonable but mistaken believe that timely payment will satisfy their debts…” alleges the unfair debt collection lawsuit.

The complaint claims that Central Credit Services failed to provide Yisroel with the actual amount of the debt in its initial official communication with him.

According to the unfair debt collection lawsuit, Central Credit Services has sent hundreds of such letters as “part of a scheme” to collect alleged debts of New York’s vulnerable consumers.

The letter allegedly violates the law by “failing to clearly state the amount of the debt which is due and owing, by implying that a payment sooner rather than later will be more economical for the consumer and by employing false, deceptive and misleading representations in connection with the collection of a debt.”

The letter allegedly injured Yisroel by subjecting him “to unfair and abusive practices” and he “suffered actual harm by being the target of the defendant’s misleading debt collection communications.”

The Unfair Debt Collection Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-05676-PKC-LB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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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.