Hounded by North Shore Agency Inc., Plaintiff Files Debt Collection Class Action

Tampa, FLA debt collection agency accused of hounding consumers for repayment of debts not even owed is facing a class-action lawsuit stemming from litigation originally filed May 3, 2007. The allegations contained in the lawsuit are eerily similar to previous complaints archived in the defendant’s file with The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of New York.

According to PRNewswire (5/3/13), Casey Joy of Tampa, Florida, filed her action against North Shore Agency Inc. (North Shore), a subsidiary of Outsourcing Solutions Inc. The plaintiff alleges that North Shore attempted to collect debts, together with the issuance of collection letters, with regard to accounts and services the plaintiff did not have, or want.

The class-action lawsuit further alleges that North Shore mailed, en masse, threatening debt collection letters through the mail in an attempt to harass and intimidate consumers into paying non-existent debts.

This allegation is mirrored in the archived complaint reports of North Shore Agency Inc. by the BBB. While allowing the firm an “A+” rating nonetheless, the BBB file as reflected online states, “Complaints sent to the Better Business Bureau of New York state that a collection agency called North Shore sends consumers collection bill statements regarding money owed to companies that consumers allege they are unaware of. Some consumers’ (sic) stated that they received bills regarding subscription Magazines (sic) and books from the collection agency and were told to pay the full amount owed, however, according to consumers they never subscribed to such companies.

“Consumers allege that when trying to contact North Shore to resolve the issue, the company states that they owe the money and must pay what’s due on the account. According to complaints, this company is falsely accusing consumers of owing money to various companies when in fact the information in their system is incorrect, from name typos to accounts being wrong.

“Some consumer’s (sic) allege that the company contacts them by phone in an improper manner to explain the balance on their accounts. After consumers get no where (sic) with the company, they then contact the BBB to rectify the situation in which the company then corrects the error and cancels consumers’ subscriptions.”

In her class-action lawsuit, plaintiff Casey Joy alleges the collection practices carried out by the defendant are illegal and violate the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, together with Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act.

According to the PRNewswire report, a common complaint amongst consumers supports the BBB findings and surrounds the receipt of collection letters for unwanted magazine subscriptions that have not been duly initiated. Thus, the money is not legally owed. The lawsuit also states that collection letters fail to notify customers as to the proper avenues to challenge the debt and the collection effort, as required by law.

The report notes that the Better Business Bureau of New York identified North Shore as having “a pattern of complaints” and as having failed to correct the underlying causes for such complaints.

The class-action lawsuit is Casey Joy, On Behalf of herself and All Others Similarly Situated, vs. North Shore Agency, Inc. Case No. 8:CV-00769-T-17EAJ.