ICS, Stoneberry Hit with Lawsuit Over Allegedly Illegal Debt Collection Practices

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A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against IC System, Inc. (ICS) and Mason Companies, Inc. (which does business as Stoneberry) alleging that the debt collector and home goods retailer violated federal and state law in their attempt to collect consumers’ purported debts. The plaintiff says she received a letter from Stoneberry informing her that her account was past due and would be referred to a debt collector if she failed to pay her balance within 10 days. The complaint claims that a letter was sent from ICS before the 10-day period had expired and that the balance had increased by $8.54. The letter supposedly listed separate “billing fees” in addition to the principal amount.

According to the suit, Stoneberry’s original letter misrepresented the amount of time the plaintiff would be given before her account was referred to a debt collector, in violation of state law. Furthermore, the ICS letter allegedly violated both state and federal law by applying an illegal amount of interest and fees to the balance and failing to clearly explain the true amount of the plaintiff’s purported debt.