Our firm is proud to announce that Attorney Ronald Wilcox and co-counsel Ben Dupre were able to help Eddie Haas who was awarded $1.1. Eddie was continually harassed by Citibank when he fell behind on his bills after he became disabled. He informed Citibank of his condition, but the bank continued to call him multiple times a day on his cell phone in an attempt to pressure him to pay his debts.
Attorneys Wilcox and Dupre were able to demonstrate that Citibank's calls to Mr. Haas violated the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and related common laws. Generally, the California FDCPA prohibits:
- Engaging in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.
- Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.
- Causing a telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously to annoy the person called; or
- Communicating, by telephone or in person, with the debtor with such frequency as to be unreasonable.
JAMS Arbitration & the Verdict
Attorneys Wilcox and Dupre had brought Mr. Haas' suit in the Santa Clara Superior Court, but it was transferred to JAMS Arbitration (an alternative method of resolving lawsuits). The arbitrator there found that Citibank had violated the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the TCPA, and related common law.
Citibank appealed the decision and requested that the case be looked at "anew." The second arbitration, in front of three JAMS Arbitrators, yielded an even better result and the bank was ordered to pay for their harassment of Mr. Haas, along with all of his legal fees and costs.
Shortly after this verdict was handed down, Citibank was also penalized for similar practices in another case. Just this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered the bank to pay $8 million in restitution and forego collecting on approximately $34 million in credit card debt.
We are grateful for the victory and hope the Arbitrator’s award sends a message to the credit card industry to treat its customers with fairness, dignity and respect.
If you are facing creditor harassment we can help. At the Wilcox Law Firm, P.C. clients benefit from the protection and insight from a San Jose collection harassment attorney with more than two decades of legal experience.
Use our online form to request a free case evaluation with us today.