N.Y. man says debt collector illegally disclosed info
A New York man claims that debt collection agency Pentagroup Financial violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it disclosed information about his debt to a third party.
Catherine Tomasko
25 FEB 2013
Catherine Tomasko
In a class-action complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Refael Sacher claims a representative for the Houston agency left a message about his debt with a third party.
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The third party, who was not identified in the complaint, allegedly was asked to have Sacher return a call regarding a past-due debt with nonparty Sprint. The defendant’s employee left the phone message Nov. 25, according to the suit.
The complaint says it is well-settled that when a debt collector leaves any message to be conveyed to a debtor by a third party, it violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692.
Sacher also says a debt collector cannot contact a debtor’s neighbors, employer, relatives or friends in trying to collect a debt. He proposes a plaintiff class of all New York residents whose neighbors or other third parties (except spouses) received a telephone message from Pentagroup about a debt collection within one year prior to the filing of the complaint.
Sacher demands a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees and costs.
At press time, the defendant had not filed a response to the complaint.