Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C.

Complaint Against Trans Union, Equifax, Experian, Designed Receivable Solutions, Central Financial Control, I.C. Systems, PMAB, Law Offices of Mitchell Kay, SCA Collections, Credit Collection and Hunter Warfield

Jordan Sartell

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

Jane Doe

 

Plaintiff,

 

v.

 

TRANS UNION, LLC, EQUIFAX INFORMATION SERVICES LLC, EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC., DESIGNED RECEIVABLE SOLUTIONS, INC., CENTRAL FINANCIAL CONTROL, I.C. SYSTEMS INC., PMAB LLC, LAW OFFICES OF MITCHELL KAY, SCA COLLECTIONS, INC., CREDIT COLLECTION SERVICES, INC. , and HUNTER WARFIELD, INC.

 

Defendants.

 

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 Civil Action No.

 

 

 

 

Complaint

Preliminary Statement

  1. This is an action for damages brought by individual consumer, against Defendants for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (hereinafter the “FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681, et seq., as amended, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §1692, et seq., (hereafter the “FDCPA”).

The Parties

  1. Plaintiff  is an adult individual residing in South Carolina.
  2. Defendant, Trans Union, LLC (hereafter “Trans Union”), is a business entity which regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and which has a principal place of business located at 1510 Chester Pike, Crum Lynne, PA 19022.
  3. Defendant, Equifax Information Services LLC (hereafter “Equifax”) is a business entity which regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and which has a principal place of business located at 6 Clementon Road, East, Suite A2, Gibbsboro, New Jersey 08026.
  4. Defendant, Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (hereafter “Experian”) is a business entity which regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and which has a principal place of business located at 5 Century Drive, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054.
  5. Defendant, Designed Receivable Solutions, Inc. (“DRS”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts which regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania and with its principal place of business located at 1 Centerpointe Drive, Suite 450, La Palma, CA 90623.  The principal purpose of DRS is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and DRS regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  6. Defendant, Central Financial Control (“CFC”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 1500 S. Douglas Road Anaheim, CA 92806. The principal purpose of CFC is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and CFC regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  7. Defendant, I.C. System, Inc. (“I.C. System”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 444 Highway 96 E., Saint Paul, MN 55127. The principal purpose of I.C. Systems is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and I.C. Systems regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  8. Defendant, PMAB LLC (“PMAB”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 5970 Fairview Road, Suite 800, Charlotte, NC 28210.  The principal purpose of PMAB is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and PMAB regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  9. Defendant, Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay, P.C. (“LOMNK”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 7 Penn Plaza, New York, New York 10116.  The principal purpose of LOMNK is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and LOMNK regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  10. Defendant, SCA Collections, Inc.  (“SCA”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 300 E. Arlington Road, Suite 6A, Greenville, NC 27858.  The principal purpose of SCA is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and SCA regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  11. Defendant, Credit Collection Services, Inc. (“CCS”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 240 Commerical Street, Suite 3A, Boston MA 02109.  The principal purpose of CCS is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and CCS regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.
  12. Defendant, Hunter Warfield, Inc. (“Hunter Warfield”) is a business entity regularly engaged in the business of collecting debts with its principal place of business located at 4620 Woodland Corporation, Tampa, FL 33614.  The principal purpose of Hunter Warfield is the collection of debts using the mails and telephone, and Hunter Warfield regularly attempts to collect debts alleged to be due another.

JURISDICTION & Venue

  1. Jurisdiction of this Court arises under 15 U.S.C. § 1681p and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and supplemental jurisdiction exists for the state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
  2. Venue lies properly in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

Factual Allegations

  1. Defendants have been reporting derogatory and inaccurate statements and information relating to Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s credit history to third parties (hereafter the “inaccurate information”).
  2. The inaccurate information includes, but is not limited to, accounts with Aargon Agency, Allied Interstate, Inc., Central Financial Control, Designed Receivable Solutions, First Premier Bank, Hunter Warfield, Inc.,  I.C. Systems, Inc., NCO Financial Services, PMAB LLC, SCA Collections, Stern & Associates, Medclear, Inc., Syndicated Office Systems, Receivable Solutions, Inc., Credit Adjustment Board, I, Professional Recovery, Amerifinancial Solutions, Credit Collection Services, Medical Data Systems, Inc., and the Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay, P.C.
  3. The inaccurate information negatively reflects upon Plaintiff, Plaintiff’s credit repayment history, Plaintiff’s financial responsibility as a debtor and Plaintiff’s credit worthiness. The inaccurate information consists of accounts and/or tradelines that do not belong to the Plaintiff.
  4. Defendants have been reporting the inaccurate information through the issuance of false and inaccurate credit information and consumer credit reports that they have disseminated to various persons and credit grantors, both known and unknown.
  5. Plaintiff has disputed the inaccurate information with Defendants by both oral and written communications to their representatives and by following Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union’s established procedure for disputing consumer credit information.
  6. Plaintiff has disputed the inaccurate information with Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, including but not limited to, from January 2011 through the present.
  7. Notwithstanding Plaintiff’s efforts, Defendants have sent Plaintiff correspondence indicating their intent to continue publishing the inaccurate information, and Defendants continue to publish and disseminate such inaccurate information to other third parties, persons, entities and credit grantors. Defendants have repeatedly published and disseminated consumer reports to such third parties from at least  August 2010 through the present.
  8. Despite Plaintiff’s efforts, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union have never: (1) contacted Plaintiff to follow up on, verify and/or elicit more specific information about Plaintiff’s disputes; (2) contacted any third parties that would have relevant information concerning Plaintiff’s disputes; (3) forwarded any relevant information concerning Plaintiff’s disputes to the entities originally furnishing the inaccurate information; (4) requested or obtained any credit applications, or other relevant documents from the entities furnishing the inaccurate information; and (5) performed any handwriting analysis.
  9. Notwithstanding Plaintiff’s disputes, Defendants DRS, CFC, I.C. System, PMAB, LOMNK, , SCA, CCS and Hunter Warfield has also failed to conduct timely and reasonable investigations of Plaintiff’s disputes after being contacted by the relevant credit reporting agencies concerning Plaintiff’s disputes, have willfully continued to report such inaccurate information to various credit reporting agencies, and have failed to mark the above account as disputed.
  10. Despite Plaintiff’s exhaustive efforts to date, Defendants have nonetheless deliberately, willfully, intentionally, recklessly and negligently repeatedly failed to perform reasonable reinvestigations of the above disputes as required by the FCRA, have failed to remove the inaccurate information, have failed to report on the results of its reinvestigations to all credit reporting agencies, have failed to note the disputed status of the inaccurate information and have continued to report the derogatory inaccurate information about the Plaintiff.
  11. Plaintiff’s credit reports and file have been obtained from Defendants and have been reviewed many times by prospective and existing credit grantors and extenders of credit, and the inaccurate information has been a substantial factor in precluding Plaintiff from receiving many different credit offers and opportunities, known and unknown, and from receiving the most favorable terms in financing and interest rates for credit offers that were ultimately made.
  12. As a result of Defendants’ conduct, Plaintiff has suffered actual damages in the form of (a) lost credit opportunities, (b) harm to credit reputation and credit score, and (c) emotional distress.
  13. At all times pertinent hereto, Defendants were acting by and through their agents, servants and/or employees who were acting within the course and scope of their agency or employment, and under the direct supervision and control of the Defendants herein.
  14. At all times pertinent hereto, the conduct of the Defendants, as well as that of their agents, servants and/or employees, was malicious, intentional, willful, reckless, and in grossly negligent disregard for federal and state laws and the rights of the Plaintiff herein.

COUNT I –EQUIFAX, EXPERIAN, AND TRANS UNION

VIOLATIONS OF THE FCRA

 

  1. Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing paragraphs as though the same were set forth at length herein.
  2. At all times pertinent hereto, Defendants were “persons” and “consumer reporting agencies” as those terms are defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(b) and (f).
  3. At all times pertinent hereto, Plaintiff was a “consumer” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(c).
  4. At all times pertinent hereto, the above-mentioned credit reports were “consumer reports” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d).
  5. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681n and 15 U.S.C. §1681o, Defendants are liable to the Plaintiff for engaging in the following conduct:

(a)                willfully and negligently failing to provide prompt notice of the inaccurate information and Plaintiff’s dispute to the furnishing entities, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681i(a);

(b)               willfully and negligently failing to provide all relevant information provided by Plaintiff regarding the dispute of the inaccurate information to the furnishing entities, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681i(a);

(c)                willfully and negligently failing to review and consider all relevant information submitted by Plaintiff concerning the dispute of the inaccurate information, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681i(a);

(d)               willfully and negligently failing to delete the inaccurate information from Plaintiff’s credit file after reinvestigation, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681i(a);

(e)                willfully and negligently failing to note Plaintiff’s dispute of the inaccurate  information and in subsequent consumer reports, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681i(c);

(f)                willfully and negligently failing to timely and properly investigate the inaccurate information after receiving notice of the dispute from the Plaintiff;

(g)               willfully and negligently failing to employ and follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of Plaintiff’s credit report, information and file, in violation of 15 U.S.C. §1681e(b);

(h)               willfully and negligently failing to properly and timely delete the inaccurate information  from Plaintiff’s credit files despite being unable to verify the accuracy of the information and/or being provided with proof of its inaccuracy; and

(i)                 willfully and negligently continuing to report the inaccurate information despite having knowledge of its inaccuracy and/or inability to be verified.

  1. The conduct of Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union was a direct and proximate cause, as well as a substantial factor, in bringing about the serious injuries, actual damages and harm to Plaintiff that are outlined more fully above and, as a result, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union are liable to Plaintiff for the full amount of statutory, actual and punitive damages, along with the attorneys’ fees and the costs of litigation.

Count II

DRS,  CFC,  I.C. SYSTEM, pmab , lOMNK, sca , CCS and HUNTER wARFIELD VIOLATIONS OF THE FCRA

  1. Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing paragraphs as though the same were set forth at length herein.
  2. At all times pertinent hereto Designed Receivable Solutions, Central Financial Control, I.C. Systems, Inc., PMAB LLC, Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay, P.C., SCA Collections, Credit Collection Services and Hunter Warfield were “persons” as that term defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(b).
  3. Designed Receivable Solutions, Central Financial Control, I.C. Systems, Inc., PMAB LLC, Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay, P.C., SCA Collections, Credit Collection Services and Hunter Warfield violated sections 1681n and 1681o of the FCRA by engaging in the following conduct:

(a)                willfully and negligently failing to conduct an investigation of the inaccurate information that Plaintiff disputed;

(b)               willfully and negligently failing to review all relevant information concerning Plaintiff’s account provided to Defendants;

(c)                willfully and negligently failing to report the results of investigations to the relevant consumer reporting agencies;

(d)               willfully and negligently failing to report the inaccurate status of the inaccurate information to all credit reporting agencies;

(e)                willfully and negligently failing to properly participate, investigate and comply with the reinvestigations that were conducted by any and all credit reporting agencies concerning the inaccurate information disputed by Plaintiff;

(f)                willfully and negligently continuing to furnish and disseminate inaccurate and derogatory credit, account and other information concerning the Plaintiff to credit reporting agencies and other entities; and

(g)               willfully and negligently failing to comply with the requirements imposed on furnishers of information pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681s-2(b).

  1. Defendants conduct was a direct and proximate cause, as well as a substantial factor, in causing the serious injuries, damages and harm to the Plaintiff that are outlined more fully above, and as a result Defendants are liable to compensate Plaintiff for the full amount of statutory, actual and punitive damages, along with attorneys’ fees and costs, as well as such other relief, permitted by law.

Count II

DRS,  CFC,  I.C. SYSTEM, PMAB , LOMNK, SCA , CCS and HUNTER wARFIELD VIOLATIONS OF THE FDCPA

  1. Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing paragraphs as though the same were set forth at length herein.
  2. Defendants are “debt collectors” as defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) of the FDCPA.
  3. Plaintiff is a “consumer” as defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(3) of the FDCPA.
  4. The above contacts between Defendants and Plaintiff were “communications” relating to a “debt” as defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(2) and 1692a(5) of the FDCPA.
  5. Defendants violated the FDCPA.  Defendants’ violations include, but are not limited to, violations of 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e(2)(a), 1692e(8), 1692e(10), and 1692f as evidenced by the following conduct:

(a)                Falsely representing the character, amount or legal status of any debt

(b)               Communicating credit information which is known to be false;

(c)                Engaging in conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt; and

(d)               Otherwise using false, deceptive, misleading and unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect the alleged debt from the Plaintiff.

  1. Defendants acts as described above were done with malicious, intentional, willful, reckless, wanton and negligent disregard for Plaintiff’s rights under the law and with the purpose of coercing Plaintiff to pay the alleged debt.
  2. As a result of the above violations of the FDCPA, Defendants are liable to Plaintiff in the sum of Plaintiff’s statutory damages, actual damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.

JURY TRIAL DEMAND

68.       Plaintiff demands trial by jury on all issues so triable.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff seeks judgment in Plaintiff’s favor and damages against the Defendants, based on the following requested relief:

(a)                Actual damages;

(b)               Statutory damages;

(c)                Punitive damages;

(d)               Costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n, 1681o,                                 and 1692k ;

(e)                An order directing that Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union immediately delete all of the inaccurate information from Plaintiff’s credit reports and files, and that DRS, CFC, I.C. System , PMAB, LOMNK, , SCA, CCS and Hunter Warfield cease reporting the inaccurate information to any and all persons and entities to whom they report consumer credit information;

(f)                An order directing that Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union send to all persons and entities to whom they have reported Plaintiff’s inaccurate information within the last three years Plaintiff’s updated and corrected credit report information; and

(g)               Such other and further relief as may be necessary, just and proper.

Respectfully Submitted,

FRANCIS & MAILMAN, P.C.

BY:    /s/ Mark Mailman

MARK MAILMAN, ESQUIRE

GREGORY GORSKI, ESQUIRE

Land Title Building, 19th Floor

100 South Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19110

(215) 735-8600

Attorneys for Plaintiff