Judgment Issued Against Debt Collectors After Violating The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
You would think in this day and age, that debt collectors would know enough to behave themselves. Well…not really. On April 14, 2021, the State of Indiana obtained a default judgment against New Britain Financial and its owner Nelson Macwan for violating Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. According to the complaint, New Britain, in the course of attempting to collect consumer debts, threatened people with lawsuits, arrests, and liens without having the present right to do so. These very same allegations are violations of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDPCA”).
The default judgment against New Britain contains a long list of the names of people who were found to have been abused by the company and who are entitled to the return of the money that they paid to it.
According to Gary Nitzkin, an attorney with Credit Repair Lawyers of America “These same people, whose names are listed in the default judgment, have FDCPA claims against New Britain. They are entitled to the return of their money, plus damages, costs and attorney’s fees.” The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal law that protects consumers from unscrupulous debt collectors. It contains a non-exhaustive list of things that debt collectors cannot do as well as things that they must do. Nitzkin further added “Unfortunately, the FDCPA has a very short 1-year statute of limitations. So, if any one who has been abused by New Britain does not sue within 1 year from the date that they were last harassed by this company, they will be out of luck as far as their FDCPA claims go.”
The FDCPA is a very important statute to consumers. Of the many prohibitions listed in it against debt collectors, one is that they may not threaten to take action for which they do not have the present right nor intention to take. For example, if a debt collector is threatening a consumer with a lawsuit over a $15 debt, its obvious that the debt collector has no present intention of taking that action. Likewise, if a debt collector threatens a consumer with garnishing of the consumer’s wages while the debt collector does not hold a judgment, this is also a violation of the law.
In a successful action against a debt collector under the FDCPA, a consumer is entitled to statutory damages of up to $1,000 plus actual damages which can include mental anguish, costs of the action and attorneys’ fees. According to Attorney Nitzkin, “The nice thing about this law is it gives consumers the right to pursue debt collectors and make the debt collectors pay for the consumers’ attorney. We have successfully pursued many of these cases against debt collectors. You would be astounded at the kinds of things we have sued debt collectors for. We had one case where a debt collector friended the consumer on Facebook and then contacted her friends and told them about the debt. Many debt collectors are just out of control today.”
If you have been harassed by a debt collector, contact Attorney Gary Nitzkin at Credit Repair Lawyers of America at (248) 353-2882 or email him at [email protected] for a free, no obligation consultation.
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Atlanta, GA, 30326
Phone: 404-591-6680
Toll Free: 855-956-2089
Email: [email protected]
