Debt Collectors Failed To Properly Convey Balance Due, Says Class Action

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FDCPA Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Omer Karakas filed a class action lawsuit against Synergetic Communication, Inc. and Palisades Acquisition XVI LLC. 
• Why: The plaintiff claims they received a debt collection letter that failed to disclose whether or not their balance due was still accruing interest. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court.

Synergetic Communication and Palisades Acquisition withheld critical information from a debt collection letter, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Omer Karakas claims the debt collectors failed to properly convey information about whether their debt was increasing or remaining static, putting them in violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA).

Karakas wants to represent a New Jersey Class of consumers who have received a collection letter from Synergetic Communications on behalf of Palisades Acquisition that failed to state whether interest was continuing to accrue. 

Karakas says they received a debt collection letter from Synergetic Communications in September of last year that had a higher balance owed than the original judgement. 

The letter from the defendant is required to but did not state whether or not the balance was continuing to increase or only increased in the past, according to the class action lawsuit. 

Karakas claims this information is critical, since they could pay the balance and still end up owing money in interest from the time after the letter was sent but before they paid the balance. 

“Defendant’s actions created an appreciable risk to Plaintiff of being unable to properly respond or handle Defendant’s debt collection,” states the class action lawsuit. 

The FDCPA legally protects consumers from being misled or treated unfairly by debt collectors, who must make any communication easily understandable to the “least sophisticated” consumer. 

“If a debt collector’s communication is ‘reasonably susceptible to an inaccurate reading’ by the least sophisticated consumer, it violates the FDCPA,” states the class action lawsuit. 

Karakas claims that because the collection letter was misleading and confused them, they were unable to properly respond and instead spent elsewhere the funds they could have used to pay off the debt. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and seeking relief in the form of statutory and actual damages for themselves and all Class Members. 

A similar class action lawsuit was filed last month by a consumer in Texas who claimed a debt collection letter sent by I.C. System, Inc. was unclear and violated federal law. 

Have you been confused by a letter you received from a debt collector? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Uri Horowitz, Esq. of Horowitz Law, PLLC. 

The FDCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Karakas v. Synergetic Communication, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-16557, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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