A Pennsylvania woman filed a federal lawsuit April 20 against Target Corp. and its law firm over the department store’s collection practices, claiming false affidavits were used to go after customers who allegedly owed money to a subsidiary bank that issues the store’s credit cards.
Vicki Higgins seeks class-action status for thousands of Target customers who have repaid Target National Bank debts, paid legal fees, lost lawsuits or had their credit scores damaged because of collections using the allegedly false affidavits. The Associated Press first reported this story on April 28.
The lawsuit states Target National Bank sued Higgins over an alleged credit card debt in April 2009, and then dropped the case later that year. The lawsuit does not say how much Higgins allegedly owed, and her attorney, Jeffrey Suher, did not return a call for comment.
The lawsuit contends Higgins incurred unspecified attorney’s fees that she should not have had to pay because of the collection action, which, she claims, was supported by the fraudulent affidavit.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order to stop the collection practices alleged by Higgins, who lives in Westmoreland County, east of Pittsburgh.
Jessica Carlson, a spokesperson for Target, told the Associated Press the company had not been served with the lawsuit and had no comment.
The suit also names a Target official identified only as Adam Grim, who signed the debt affidavits, a notary public who attested to the documents, and several “John Doe” defendants, one being an unknown officer at Target who authorized the implementation of the false affidavit factory described in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims certain consumers are entitled to compensation because the notarized debt affidavits prepared by Grim claim that he personally reviewed the records on behalf of the bank. The lawsuit contends that in Higgins’ case, “Grim didn’t review any records prior to allegedly executing the affidavit.”
The affidavit was one of hundreds rubber-stamped by Grim which, the lawsuit contends, is illegal because the affidavits are used to coerce customers, or convince courts to enforce the debt, under the false impression that the bank has reviewed the financial information contained.
