Wyndham, PayPal Class Action Alleges Unauthorized Funds Withdrawn

Wyndham Hotel Management Inc. and PayPal Inc. have worked together to illegally obtain funds from consumers without their permission, according to an unfair debt collection class action lawsuit filed last week in California federal court.

Plaintiffs Helen Renee Traylor and Michael Traylor of Utah claim that they were invited to attend a vacation ownership presentation in May at a Wyndham Hotel located in Anaheim, Calif.

The plaintiffs state that they were told to fill out paperwork that would authorize Wyndham to check their credit limit. According to the PayPal class action lawsuit, they were told that they would not be charged anything for the credit limit check.

However, after they returned home from the vacation ownership presentation, the plaintiffs reportedly discovered that PayPal provided Wyndham a total of $4,800 from their account. They say they immediately contacted PayPal about the mistake.

According to the PayPal class action lawsuit, PayPal refused to return the money, insisting that the plaintiffs had authorized the transaction.

The class action lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs filed a police report, at which time PayPal allegedly informed the plaintiffs that the transaction had never been authorized.

The plaintiffs accuse PayPal and Wyndham of attempting to collect funds from consumers without their authorization. They believe there are potentially thousands of Class Members who may have been affected by the defendants’ conduct.

“Such conduct is inherently deceptive and misleads the least-sophisticated consumer, as it is … plausible that an unsophisticated consumer would believe that they owe the money that they are told that they owe,” the unauthorized charges class action lawsuit states.

“Defendants’ acts and omissions were intentional, and resulted from Defendants’ desire to mislead debtors and consumers into making payments on amounts that they did not owe, thereby allowing Defendants to unfairly and unlawfully gain money from consumers and provide nothing in return,” the PayPal class action lawsuit continues.

By filing the PayPal unauthorized charges class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of consumers who had unauthorized funds withdrawn from their PayPal accounts.

The plaintiffs assert they have suffered “irreparable harm” due to the conduct of PayPal and Wyndham. “Absent a class action, the Class will continue to face the potential for irreparable harm,” they state.

The PayPal class action lawsuit asserts violations of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which reportedly entitles the plaintiffs and Class Members to seek statutory damages of $1,000 each.

The plaintiffs also assert violations of the Unfair Business Practices Act. In addition to statutory damages, the unauthorized charges class action lawsuit also seeks actual damages and injunctive relief.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd M. Friedman, Adrian R. Bacon, Meghan E. George and Thomas E. Wheeler of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.

The PayPal, Wyndham Unauthorized Deductions Class Action Lawsuit is Helen Renee Traylor, et al. v. PayPal Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-07670, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.