A Madison County woman hopes that at least $250,000 will sufficiently relieve emotional distress she suffered when Bank One allegedly failed to remove unauthorized charges from her account.
Marsha Eubanks filed a five count negligence lawsuit against the creditor in Madison County Circuit Court Monday seeking at least $50,000 per count.
Represented by Lakin Law Firm attorney Thomas Maag, son of Illinois Supreme Court Justice candidate Gordon E. Maag, Eubanks claims an unknown person in Indiana obtained her credit card information and used it without her permission. The complaint did not state when the problems occurred.
Eubanks claims that as soon as she learned about the unauthorized charges, she contacted Bank One requesting the credit card be cancelled and the unauthorized charges be removed.
Bank One sent her a new credit card to the address in Indiana at first. Eventually her address was corrected, but Bank One refused to remove the unauthorized charges.
Eubanks alleges Bank One subsequently made harrassing collection phone calls that caused her severe emotional distress and loss of peace of mind.
Bank One threatened to steal her property to pay for the charges, used profane language, and also made her telephone ring continuously so that she would be intimidated into paying the charges, Eubanks claims.
Counts four and five allege violation of 15 USC 1692 which protects consumers against debt collection abuses.
Eubanks claims Bank One falsely represented the legal status of the alleged debt, misrepresented that she would be arrested if payment was not made and also failed to disclose that they were a debt collector attempting to collect a date.
In addition to damages, Eubanks seeks to recover costs of the suit, attorney fees and other additional relief the court feels appropriate under the circumstances.
Circuit Judge Phillip Kardis has been assigned to the case.
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