Woman in default claims collection agency violated law

Amber Elder of Clark, Ill. filed a civil complaint against OSI Collection Services in U.S. District Court in Benton, alleging the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

According to the complaint filed June 13, Elder defaulted on her Capital One credit card in April and her account was placed with the collection agency.

Elder claims that one of OSI's employees misrepresented that Capital One had a pending lawsuit and had obtained a judgment.

She also alleges that OSI contacted her at work even though she repeatedly told them she could not receive calls at her place of employment.

The suit claims that on April 26, an employee named Kevin Burton called her and she again informed him she could not receive personal calls at work.

She claims Burton told her that he was contacting her because he needed to serve her a wage garnishment and represented that a judgment had been placed against her.

"Defendant knew that it had not obtained a judgment against Elder and could not garnish her wages," the complaint alleges.

"Defendant made false statements with the intent to collect a debt."

Represented by Roy Jackson Dent of Charleston, Elder is seeking a judgment against OSI for actual and statutory damages, attorney's fees, litigation expenses and costs, plus any other relief the court deems appropriate.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Michael Reagan and Magistrate Judge Clifford Proud.