A class-action complaint has been filed against a debt collector for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it allegedly offered to delete a debt from an individual’s credit report if the individual accepted a settlement offer, but instead reported the debt as “paid” with a $0 balance instead.
A copy of the complaint in the case of Diallo v. ProCollect can be accessed by clicking here.
The plaintiff allegedly received a collection letter from the defendant in regard to an unpaid apartment debt. The letter had the heading, “RECEIVE 35% DISCOUNT & DELETION FROM CREDIT REPORT” and included the following statement:
ProCollect will delete your account from your credit report and reduce the balance by 35% if payment … is received in our office no later than 4/30/2021.
The plaintiff contacted the defendant, accepted the offer, and made the payment during a phone conversation. But when the plaintiff checked her credit report several months later, the report said that the debt had been “paid” and had a balance of $0. It had not been deleted as allegedly promised by the defendant.
When the plaintiff contacted the defendant, a representative of the defendant allegedly said the problem was the plaintiff’s to solve because the account had been closed and then allegedly hung up on the plaintiff.
The plaintiff seeks to include two classes in her suit — one for individuals who received similar letters that the plaintiff received, and one for individuals who made payments and whose accounts were not deleted.
The defendant is accused of violating Section 1692e, 1692e(10), and 1692f of the FDCPA by misrepresenting in the letter that the tradeline would be delete, as well as the Texas Debt Collections Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.