Judge Keith R. Kyle in Lee County, Florida., found that collection attempts by West Asset Management,  a debt collection firm working on behalf of Bank of America, amounted to harassment.  The companies were found to have violated state law by repeatedly calling a Florida woman about paying the credit-card bill of her late husband.

The latest ruling is part of an August lawsuit filed by Linda Long, a 68-year-old retired office worker, alleging that the debt-collection firm harassed her by calling as many as 10 times a day about $16,651.52 that her husband Millard had accumulated on a Bank of America credit card before his death from colon cancer in March 2010.

A New Jersey consumer recently filed a lawsuit against debt collection lawyers because the letter sent by the attorneys to the consumer contained technical violations of Federal consumer protection laws.  Most people would not even recognize the violations contained within the particular debt collection letter, which is not uncommon.  The New Jersey court sided with the consumer and against the debt collecting attorneys in denying the lawyers’ motion to dismiss the case.  Philip v. Sardo & Batista, P.C., No. 11-4773 (SRC), 2011 WL 5513201 (D. N.J. Nov. 10, 2011).

Recently, a consumer won his case filed in a Federal Court in Arizona, alleging incorrect credit reporting of his debt and subsequent mishandling of his request to verify and dispute that debt.  According to court documents in Pinkerton v. National Credit Services (NCS) of Oklahoma and Capital Assistance Group, LLC, an alleged debt was reported to credit reporting agency Experian by debt collection agencies National Credit Services (NCS) of Oklahoma and Capital Assistance Group (CAS), LLC prior to the Plaintiff receiving notification of the alleged debt. The negative item remained on the Plaintiff’s credit report even after a verification and dispute letter had been sent to the collection agency. The mishandling of the reporting of the debt to the credit reporting agencies was found to be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a) and judgment entered in favor of the consumer.

Where a notice from a collection agency contained confusing and potentially threatening language relating to the consumer’s credit report, the court affirmed judgment in favor of the consumer and against the debt collector/debt purchasing company.

Gonzales v. Arrow Fin. Servs., Inc., No. 10-55379, 2011 WL 4430844, — F.3d — (9th Cir. Sept. 23, 2011)

Social Networking websites and mobile technology have created new ways to communicate and connect with family, friends and businesses as well, however one Texas company allegedly went too far when attempting to collect payment for home improvement services.

In addition to alleged contact via Facebook a Texas consumer (now suing the company received numerous text messages, cell phone calls and voice mails that contained obscene and offensive language and threats according to court papers filed in the Comal County Texas District Court for violating State laws regulating the collection of consumer debt.

Total lawsuits filed in the U.S. this year citing alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violations reached 10,402 through mid-October, well ahead of last year’s pace when the 10,000 mark was reached on Dec. 1, according to WebRecon LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company that tracks the data from the courts.

Through Nov. 15, the number of consumer statute lawsuits reached 11,176 this year. Consumer statute lawsuits include violations of the FDCPA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (1,656), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (419) and the Truth-in-Lending Act (1,342). Many of the lawsuits list more than one alleged violation.

For the latest reporting period of Nov. 1-15, consumers sued an estimated 474 different collection agencies and creditors, down from 498 in the Oct. 16-31 period and 597 in the Oct. 1-15 period. Of the lawsuits filed in the first half of November, 472 cited alleged FDCPA violations and 84 cited alleged FCRA violations.