A trio of lawsuits in West Virginia highlight the types of issues agencies are facing not just in the state but nationally.
Midland Credit Management Inc. and Enhanced Recovery Company LLC both were sued in Putnam County (W.Va.) Circuit Court for allegedly failing to cease phone calls after individuals retained attorneys. Hannah Rabey sued Midland Credit Management and Louie Lovejoy sued Enhanced Credit Recovery. Both are represented by attorney Benjamin Sheridan of Klein and Sheridan LC.
Their separate suits both cited violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. Both complaints claim that the phone calls were made by an automated recording system and because Rabey and Lovejoy were not able - despite attempts - to talk to a real person, they could not inform the defendant they had retained an attorney.
Both individuals are seeking judgments for an undisclosed amount of damages.
In a separate case, a West Virginia man also claims he was subjected to illegal debt collection practices.
Eddie Ramsey filed a lawsuit in Raleigh County (W.Va.) Circuit Court against Capital One Auto Finance, citing violations of the state's consumer credit and protection act, the West Virginia Computer Crime and Abuse Act, the telephone harassment statute, intentional infliction of emotional distress and common law invasion of privacy.
Ramsey, in the complaint, states that Capital One Auto Finance contacted him to collect an outstanding debt.
The defendant engaged in numerous statutory violations, including using coercion in attempt to collect a debt, engaging in hostile and abusive conduct and using fraudulent, deceptive or misleading representations, according to the complaint.
Ramsey is seeking actual damages, statutory damages, costs, compensatory damages and punitive damages. The plaintiff is represented by Ralph C. Young, Christopher B. Frost, Steven R. Broadwater and Jed R. Nolan of Hamilton, Burgess, Young & Pollard PLLC.
