We often see collection lawyers sending demand letters for a debt that includes court-filing costs. That's problematic because New York law is clear in that certain costs are awarded only after the the creditor obtains its judgment; Court costs is probably one of them. Debt buyers and collection lawyers may be inflating your debt amount by costs not permitted by law triggering an FDCPA violation.
But what if the debt buyer or collection lawyer furnishes that inflated amount to the credit bureaus?
In Fritz v. Resurgent Capital Services, I blogged about this issue. We saw LVNV Funding, LLC and Resurgent Capital Services sued for inflating a debt amount on a consumer's credit report. Reporting a false debt amount is specifically prohibited under § FDCPA e(8).
Check your credit reports. You can obtain a free one each year from all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Transunion). If any account seems high or inaccurate, contact us right away.