Bad Economy Spurs One Practice Area: Consumer Debt Collection Suits
Most litigation over illegal bill collection tactics might cost result in perhaps $1,000 in damages for an individual plaintiff.
But a few suits with particularly egregious facts can bring in a lot more. And statutory attorney fees provided for the prevailing party can make such cases worthwhile for a plaintiff lawyer, reports the Houston Chronicle.
“They said I’d go to jail, lose my family, my home, never see my children again. It was really brutal. It was horrifying,” says Evelyn Turner, who was harassed over a $17,500 debt that was supposed to be paid by a title company but wasn’t.
Initially, Turner says, she didn’t realize there was anything she could do about the phone calls. However, suing under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act she won $17,500 and her lawyer, Dana Karni of Houston, Texas, was awarded $50,000 in damages.
Litigation by consumers over bill collection techniques seems to be on the rise, apparently due at least in part to stepped-up bill collection efforts prompted by the bad economy, the newspaper writes. It can be brought either in state or in federal court.
