Valley Servicing Unlawfully Contacted Consumer’s Employer to Collect Illegal Debt, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Red Cypress Group, which does business as Valley Servicing and Apex Servicing, has violated federal law by contacting a woman’s employer in an attempt to collect an allegedly illegal debt.

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The 12-page debt collection lawsuit was filed by an Indiana consumer who says Valley Servicing in March 2024 sent her employer a “wage assignment demand notice,” which sought to collect a high-interest loan she had been issued previously. The suit relays that the woman had ceased payments on the loan, which, according to the complaint, was “predatory” in nature and legally unenforceable.

The case contends that the defendants, by contacting the plaintiff’s employer, have violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits a debt collector from communicating with anyone other than the consumer in connection with the collection of a debt.

In addition, the defendants have breached the FDCPA by falsely representing that the plaintiff has defaulted on a lawful debt, the filing claims.

The suit notes that the defendants have faced legal action in the past over the use of wage assignment demand notices, and been “warned of the illegality of their conduct” by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.

The case alleges that the unlawful debt collection operation is run by the owner of Red Cypress Group, defendant Ashley Blake Collins, despite purporting to be operated by a company with supposed ties to the federally recognized Oglala Sioux tribe.

The Valley Servicing debt collection lawsuit looks to represent any Indiana residents who were the subject of a wage assignment demand notice sent by the company, Red Cypress Group or Apex Servicing within the past two years. The suit also seeks to cover Illinois residents subject to the same within the past year.

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