EAST ST. LOUIS — A Belleville resident is suing a debt collector for allegedly attempting to collect a debt that had been discharged in bankruptcy.
Phyllis Gordon filed a complaint on Feb. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Resurgent Capital Services LP, alleging the defendant violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Aug. 26, 2013, she was granted an order of discharge of her listed debts, including the debt owed from the original creditor when she filed a bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The order of discharge invoked the protections of the discharge injunction, prohibiting any acts to collect upon the subject debtor. But on Oct. 16, 2015, until May 5, 2016, Gordon continuously received letters addressed to her home address demanding payment of an alleged debt amounting to $776.60.
As a result, the plaintiff claims she was unduly inconvenienced, harassed and suffered emotional distress.
The plaintiff alleges the defendant should have known not to send bills to a debtor that is protected by the order of discharge, failed to have a system in place to identify and cease collection of debts and failed to scan their database to prevent the unlawful collection of the subject debt.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for punitive damages, ordering the deletion of adverse credit reporting, costs, reasonable attorney fees and any other relief the court deems just and appropriate.
She is represented by Ronald A. Buch of Law Offices of William A. Mueller, LLC in Belleville.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:17-cv-00171