Debt Collectors Sued Over Allegedly False Threats, Misrepresentations in Collection Letter

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Bleier & Cox, APC and National Collegiate Student Loan Trust 2006-3 (NCT) are facing a proposed class action suit that was recently removed to California federal court and alleges violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The plaintiff in the case says the defendants sent her a collection letter in January 2017 that threatened legal action if her “obligation remain[ed] in default.” As of December 2017, however, no action had been taken against the plaintiff, the complaint notes, adding that the letter’s false threat of litigation was an attempt to coerce the woman into paying the debt.

The complaint further alleges that NCT has been fined for suing consumers without being able to produce “a complete chain of assignment” proving its ownership of the debts. The debt collector supposedly had “no account level documentation” for the plaintiff’s debt and misrepresented that it would be able to collect money from her through litigation, according to the case.

Furthermore, the suit alleges that the defendants implied “meaningful attorney involvement” in the collection of the plaintiff’s debt by including a lawyer’s signature at the bottom of the letter but failed to indicate that no attorney had actually reviewed the woman’s file.