Consumer Debt Collection: W. Va. Court Cancels Debt and Awards over $300,000 in Statutory Damages
A West Virginia state court issued a significant verdict against a consumer debt collector after a recent bench trial. Troutman Sanders LLP was not involved but has obtained a partial transcript from the case, which is attached for your reference.
Plaintiff alleged improper debt collection from telephone calls made in violation of section 46A-2-125 of the WVCCPA. The Raleigh County Circuit Court entered judgment for the plaintiff cancelling the consumer debt and awarding over $300,000 in statutory damages for improper collection calls.
The Court found that the debtor verbally notified the collector that she disputed and refused to pay the debt, and the collector had no legitimate purpose to continue collection calls. The Court rejected defendant’s argument that it ceased communications after written notice. The Court stated that the collector should have sued the debtor instead of continuing to call, and found calls made to third parties particularly egregious.
The Court found the violations were willful, cancelled the debt, and awarded the maximum statutory penalty of $4,600 for each of nearly 60 calls. The verdict will be adjusted to reflect the stipulation to damages under $75,000, but the final order has not been entered yet.
*John Lynch is Co-Chair of the Financial Services group defending consumer litigation and class actions, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and state AG investigations, and providing compliance and regulatory counseling. Partners John Lynch and Jason Manning and associate Kyle Deak are licensed in West Virginia.
© TROUTMAN SANDERS LLP. ADVERTISING MATERIAL. These materials are to inform you of developments that may affect your business and are not to be considered legal advice, nor do they create a lawyer-client relationship. Information on previous case results does not guarantee a similar future result.