Credit Card Debt Collection May Be Incorrect, Unlawful
Last Updated on January 11, 2022
Investigation Complete
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org have finished their investigation into this matter.
Check back for any potential updates and take a look at our open investigations here. The information on this page is for reference only.
At A Glance
- This Alert Affects
- Bank customers who have been sued by their bank for inaccurate credit card debt, or had their alleged debt sold to collection companies who then sue them for inaccurate amounts.
- Company(ies)
- JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and other U.S. banks.
- Date
- The State of California filed a lawsuit against Chase on May 9, 2013 alleging that the bank engaged in improper practices when filing more than 100,000 lawsuits against borrowers over credit card debt.
Attorneys are currently investigating claims that certain banks may be inaccurately documenting account information – especially credit card debt – and taking legal action to recover the “debt” despite these discrepancies. Banks may be suing users, or selling the debt to collection agencies, after incomplete records prompt an automatic referral to collection – sometimes in cases where the credit card has already been paid off.
If you have faced legal action related to your bank-issued credit card, you may be able to participate in a potential class action lawsuit.
Being Sued For Credit Card Debt?
When a credit card user’s account is found to be in debt, the bank will sue to recover the amount owed by filing a lawsuit and an affidavit stating that the information has received a review. It has been alleged, however, that many banks’ “robo-signing” practices – whereby an automatic system files the suit without human review ever taking place – may potentially lead to inaccurate lawsuits which fail to account for payment plans, recent repayments, and other activity. Through this same process, some banks are allegedly selling the debt to collection agencies and, in doing so, including incorrect information. It has been reported that consumers who had already paid off their debt faced legal action.
On May 9, 2013, the Attorney General for the State of California filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase that claimed the bank engaged in improper practices when filing more than 100,000 lawsuits between 2008 and 2013. These alleged practices include:
- Submitting statements under penalty of perjury that a review has taken place, despite this being false.
- Failing to serve summons.
- Failing to redact customers’ private information before records became public.
If you faced legal action over debt accrued on a bank-issued credit card, you could be entitled to compensation. A number of banks may be using these robo-signing practices, allowing un-reviewed credit card debt and debt collection information to be passed onto collection agencies. We are trying to determine whether consumers who were subjected to these alleged practices can file a class action lawsuit, and would like to hear from customers of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and other banks such as Capital One and Barclays, to assist in our investigation.
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