Washington, DC: Debt collection company NCO Financial Systems is facing a federal class action lawsuit alleging the company illegally records cellphone conversations during which personal finance and other sensitive information is discussed without obtaining the call recipient' consent to do so.
In the lawsuit, entitled Erel v. NCO Financial Systems Inc., Case No. 13-cv-00317, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, plaintiff Mert Erel alleges he was contacted by NCO in July, 2012 concerning an alleged debt the company was attempting to collect from him. Specifically, Erial claims that after speaking with an NCO representative for a period of time about "highly personal and private financial information,"including his home address and social security number, he asked if the conversation was being recorded. The NCO representative allegedly replied that NCO records all calls it makes to consumers. Erel claims this was the first time he was told the call was being recorded.
"Plaintiff was shocked to discover that such a confidential communication was being monitored, recorded and/or eavesdropped by defendant without plaintiff's knowledge or consent," the lawsuit states.
The TCPA class action lawsuit seeks to represent all California consumers who, within the past year, have received calls to their from NCO which were recorded without their consent.
