Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to stop debt collectors from making deceptive or misleading statements, among other things. The complaint for this class action alleges that Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA) sent a debt collection letter to consumers that contained repeated references to suing, even though lawsuit was not in question at the time.
The plaintiff in this case, Sarah Ouayoun, also known as Sarah Katzburg, allegedly incurred a debt to Citibank, NA for personal, family, or household purposes. At some point, the debt seems to have gone into default, and the complaint alleges Citibank sold it to PRA for debt collection.
At some point, PRA sent Ouayoun a collection letter dated May 4, 2021. The paragraph cited as objectionable is reproduced in the complaint:
“The legal time limit (statute of limitations) for suing you to collect this debt has expired. However, if somebody sues you anyway to try to make you pay this debt, court rules REQUIRE YOU to tell the court the statute of limitations has expired to prevent the creditor from obtaining a judgment. Even though the statute of limitations has expired, you may CHOOSE to make payments. However, BE AWARE: if you make a payment, the creditor’s right to sue you to make you pay the entire debt may START AGAIN. Also BE AWARE: if you admit to owing the debt, promise to pay the debt, or waive the statute of limitations on the debt, the time period in which the debt in enforceable in court may start again.”
The complaint alleges, “Although purportedly innocuous, this tacit inclusion of at least (4) four mentions of the potential for a lawsuit is used by [PRA] to inflict fear of litigation in the mind of [Ouayoun].”
The complaint claims that PRA “would never sue on the debt.” PRA is not a law firm, it says, and “maintains an internal practice of refraining from sending time-barred debt accounts to outside counsel for litigation.”
The complaint thus alleges that “it is clear that [PRA] deceptively tried to evoke the fear of litigation in the mind of [Ouayoun]. In truth, the option of a law suit was not even available to [PRA].” It claims that PRA has violated the law’s requirement that debt collectors not use any “false, deceptive, or misleading representation” in attempting to collect a debt.
The class for this action is
- All individual consumers in New York
- To whom PRA sent a letter trying to collect a consumer debt,
- In which PRA includes warnings about “if somebody sues you…” and “BE AWARE: if you make a payment, the creditor’s right to sue you to make you pay the entire debt may START AGAIN”
- When, in reality, PRA will never sue, even if the consumer makes a payment,
- Where the letter was sent between June 22, 2020 and July 13, 2021.
Topic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Portfolio Recovery Misleading References to Lawsuit FDCPA Complaint
June 22, 2021
Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to stop debt collectors from making deceptive or misleading statements, among other things. The complaint for this class action alleges that Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA) sent a debt collection letter to consumers that contained repeated references to suing, even though lawsuit was not in question at the time.
Portfolio Recovery Misleading References to Lawsuit FDCPA ComplaintCase Event History
Portfolio Recovery Misleading References to Lawsuit FDCPA Complaint
June 22, 2021
Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to stop debt collectors from making deceptive or misleading statements, among other things. The complaint for this class action alleges that Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA) sent a debt collection letter to consumers that contained repeated references to suing, even though lawsuit was not in question at the time.
Portfolio Recovery Misleading References to Lawsuit FDCPA Complaint