Harris & Harris Facing FDCPA Suit in Wisconsin

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Harris & Harris, Ltd. (which does business as Harris & Harris of Illinois, Ltd.) is the defendant in a proposed class action filed by a Wisconsin consumer who takes issue with a letter she received from the debt collector. The letter allegedly noted that Harris “reports some unpaid accounts to the credit bureaus,” which the suit claims implies that the plaintiff’s payment of the purported debt could spare her from the defendant’s negative reporting and preserve her credit score. The case argues that this implication is false, and that the plaintiff’s account had likely already been reported to credit bureaus before Harris became involved with the debt. From the complaint:

Falsely implying that an account will not be reported to a credit reporting agency as long as the debtor promptly pays is a tactic that preys upon the consumer’s concern about his or her credit score. The consumer is likely to be deceived into paying, whether the debt is legitimate or not, to preserve his or her credit score.”

The suit further argues that the defendant’s reporting statement overshadowed the included notice regarding the plaintiff’s 30-day validation period. The woman claims she was confused as to whether the defendant would report the obligation before the validation period expired or wait until she was given her full opportunity to dispute the debt.