Credigy Services Corp
Credigy Services Corp Guilty of Illegal Debt Collection

Credigy Services Corp Jury Slams Credigy for $500,000 Verdict Atlanta Georgia

Verdict Report: Fausto et al v. Credigy Services Corporation et al Case 5:07-cv-05658-JW.

Plaintiff's attorneys: David Humphreys and Luke Wallace of Humphreys Wallace Humphreys, P.C. Tulsa, OK; Balm Letona, Santa Cruz, CA and Ron Wilcox, San Jose, CA.

Defendant's attorneys: Tomio Narita and Jeffrey Topor of Simmons & Narita, San Francisco, CA; John Gillespie and Jeff Lucas of Stewart and Associates, Atlanta, GA.

San Jose California Federal Jury Returns Verdict totaling $500,000, against Credigy Services Corporation. The verdict consisted of $100,000 in actual damages and $400,000 in punitive damages. We are informed that the verdict is the largest under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act on behalf of a consumer who owed the debt. The Fausto's are entitled to an award of attorney fees and costs as prevailing party under federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Manuel Fausto opened a Wells Fargo charge card at a local branch in 1992. The account had a credit limit of about $1,000. Manuel Fausto and his wife Luz made monthly payments on the account as agreed but the balance kept increasing. After asking (and being declined) at the local Wells Fargo branch to have the interest on the account "frozen" so the balance could be paid off, the Faustos received help from a local business that promised to negotiate a discounted payoff of credit card balances. The Faustos had no other credit card debt but paid the Wells Fargo account off in 1998 or 1999 with two money orders delivered to the local debt negotiator. Seven years later, in August of the Faustos received a phone call at their home from a debt collector calling from Credigy Services Corp. The Faustos had no dealings with and did not recognize Credigy as someone they owed. The Faustos also received a letter from Credigy claiming that almost $17,000 was due on the account. The Fausto's made an appointment with a non profit legal clinic, the Watsonville Law Center, who wrote a letter for Mr. Fausto to sign demanding that Credigy provide a copy of the contract proving they owned the debt and some proof that the debt was actually unpaid. Credigy responded with a form letter restating the balance claimed due. The Fausto's brought the letter back to the Watsonville Law Center. WLC wrote a letter for Mr Fausto informing Credigy that since they ignored the request for information, that the Fausto's demanded under federal law that Credigy Cease and Desist all further contact with the Faustos. Credigy continued to collect on the account, writing numerous letters and calling the Faustos home over 90 times. The collectors were calling from a Credigy affililate in Brazil and made repeated false threats to the Fausto's that Credigy would take their home and paycheck even though the time to sue had expired years before Credigy's first phone call to the Fausto's home. Mrs. Fausto tape recorded the last phone call from Credigy which documented false claims that the account had been reviewed in the legal department that the account was a joint debt owed by Mrs. Fausto also, that Credigy was a "Credit Agency" and that Credigy would report the account "forever" on Mr. Faustos credit file. Credigy's training manuals suggested to the Brazillian collectors, who were paid the equivalent of $400 monthly salary, to use the "coercion method, " that credit reporting is the most important financial information for American consumers and to tell the consumer that their life will not be the same if the debt remains on their credit report. Credigy sued Mrs. Fausto claiming that its debt collection phone calls were confidential and seeking damages. Credigy admitted receiving the written cease and desist demand (sent certified mail) but claimed it made a Bona Fide Error in continuing its collection efforts. The jury heard testimony that the Dispute Resolution Team was confronted with stacks of dispute letters, was understaffed and told that no more resources would be made available because it cost the company money. Two employees who testified left Credigy because of physical problems they attributed to the stress of their jobs.

The collection calls only stopped after a lawsuit was filed. Credigy had scheduled the calls to continue until the year 2020. No records from any source, including Wells Fargo existed as to what was charged and what had been paid on the account. A consumer from Illinois (a victim of ID theft) and another from New Mexico (former husbands account) testified that Credigy ignored their request for proof that the debt was owed and that Credigy continued collecting upon them after having received cease and desist demands.

Credigy's trial strategy was to attack the credibility of the Faustos and their nine children. Mr. Fausto had a second grade education and Mrs. Fausto received a sixth grade education. Neither spoke English. Credigy issued subpoenas to depose the majority of their children and sought banking, mortgage and medical records of them and their children. The trial court permitted Credigy to elicit testimony that Mrs. Fausto had been charged with driving without a license and hit and run of a child on a bicycle and that Mr. Fausto had been cited for driving with a suspended license and that the police arrived at his home to arrest him during the time period Credigy was making its collection calls. Credigy also introduced evidence that the Fausto's borrowed a significant sum against their home in the name of their oldest son and that the house was the subject of a foreclosure several months after the collection calls stopped.

Company: Credigy Services Corp
Country: USA
State: Georgia
City: Atlanta
Site: credigy.net

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