Class Action Against TRS, Telecheck Questions Debt Collection Practices

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TRS Recovery Services Inc. and Telecheck Services Inc. are facing a Wisconsin consumer’s allegations that the debt collectors misled him concerning the nature of his purported debt and his rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The plaintiff says he received repair services on his car and was billed for an amount that “greatly exceeded the estimate,” prompting him to stop payment on his check. According to the complaint, he later received several debt collection letters from the defendants that allegedly violated the FDCPA in the following ways:

• instructed the plaintiff that he could dispute his debt using an online form that unlawfully required him to provide a reason for the dispute;
• informed him that the defendants would “secure…an understanding of why this transaction was stopped,” implying that he need not dispute the debt until contacted by the “Recovery Department;”
• implied that the defendants may add a collection fee or other additional charge to the debt by itemizing the “Principal Amount” and “Total Amount Due;”
• sent contradictory letters that first claimed his account was assigned to the defendants’ Recovery Department and then informed him that he had just received the “final notice prior to assignment of this file to our Recovery Department;” and
• listed a “Returned Check Fee” of $0.00, implying that the amount could increase in the future.

The suit argues that the defendants’ letters were unclear as to how much the plaintiff truly owed and attempted to persuade him not to exercise his dispute rights.