Eileen Wertz v National Action Financial Services, Inc.
Debtor Sues Collection Agency for Damages and Mental Anguish
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania against National Action Financial Services, Inc. for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which prohibits debt collectors from engaging in abusive, deceptive and unfair collection practices. Class members seek damages, attorney's fees and costs of the litigation.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that National Action Financial Services (NAFS) was hired by Capital One Bank to collect a credit card debt owed by Eileen Wertz. NAFS sent Wertz a collection letter on June 28, 2004 that was allegedly false, deceptive, misleading and unfair in that it did not contain the required validation/verification information required by the FDCPA which tells consumers that they have 30 days to dispute the validity of all or a portion of the debt. The letter used the following language:
Your account is seriously past due and must be paid in full or we will proceed with appropriate collection activity. Please remit the entire balance due to our office using the return envelope provided.
Wertz alleges that this language violates the FDCPA and has brought this lawsuit as she claims that she has sustained actual damages, including, but not limited to, emotional and mental pain and anguish and that she will continue to suffer the same for an indefinite time in the future.
