A Brooklyn woman is pursuing a class action lawsuit against Harris and Harris, Ltd., alleging that the company engaged in unlawful debt collection practices.
The complaint alleges that Harris and Harris, a collection agency doing business in Illinois, violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) while attempting to collect an alleged debt from Kupferstein incurred for “personal, family or household purposes."
Specifically, Kupferstein has alleged that in sharing her personal information – including her address, name, details regarding the alleged debt – Harris and Harris acted without Kupferstein’s consent. The information was allegedly shared with a vendor that contacted Kupferstein in regard to the alleged debt.
Ultimately, this allegedly placed Kupferstein’s personal information in the possession of an “unauthorized third party,” the complaint alleges. Harris and Harris is alleged to have violated the FDCPA in disclosing her personal information to a third party without her consent in contradiction of the law.
Kupferstein is seeking a class action suit based on the belief that other alleged debtors may have received similar letters involving the release to a third-party vendor of their personal information, according to the complaint.
Kupferstein is seeking statutory damages, fees and costs, as well as additional relief to be determined by the court.