InfoBytes Blog
Washington AG sues collection agency over time-barred debt settlement offers
On June 25, the Washington attorney general filed a complaint against a collection agency in King County Superior Court alleging the company’s settlement offers violated the state’s Collection Agency Act (CAA) and Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The complaint alleges that the company sent over 75,000 collection letters to Washington state residents and hundreds of thousands more letters to individuals in other states that told individuals they had a fixed number of days to respond to an offer to settle time-barred debts. However, according to the complaint, because the letters failed to disclose that the debts were legally unenforceable, they “had the capacity to deceive consumers into believing they could be sued on the debts if they did not pay.” These actions, the complaint claims, constitute an unfair and/or deceptive practice under the CPA. The company also allegedly violated the CAA, which, among other things, prohibits Washington-licensed collection agencies from threatening to take actions they cannot legally take. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties, restitution, and costs.