Class Action: Nationwide Credit Made ‘False Threats’ in Collection Notice

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Nationwide Credit, Inc. is the defendant in a proposed class action filed by a Wisconsin consumer who alleges the company sent her a deceptive letter that misrepresented both her debt amount and debt dispute rights.

The lawsuit focuses on a December 2017 collection notice in which the defendant supposedly listed two options to “resolve” the plaintiff’s Chase credit card debt. One option was to make “a single payment for $1,230.98 on or before 01/10/2018,” which the lawsuit says could lead a consumer to mistakenly believe his or her debt would rise.

“The unsophisticated consumer would interpret the imposition of a deadline to mean that the amount of the debt will increase after that deadline,” the case argues.

In truth, the woman’s account was not subject to any interest or fees, the suit says. In fact, the defendant allegedly went on to send two additional letters in January and February 2018 that indicated the same balance was due despite being sent months later.

The case further claims that the December 2017 notice failed to properly advise the plaintiff of her debt dispute rights. According to the suit, the letter stated that the plaintiff may “send a written notification to or otherwise notify [the defendant’s] office…” to obtain validation of the debt. The complaint argues, however, that suggesting the woman may “otherwise notify” the company of any dispute encourages her to communicate over the phone rather than in writing, which would not effectively trigger her verification rights.