Sunday, May 5th, 2013 at
5:00 am
On behalf of our clients, Lemberg & Associates recently filed a complaint in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, against Ruben & Rosenthal. Our client alleges that Ruben & Rosenthal called her home phone two to three times a day, and that Ruben & Rosenthal also placed robocalls. The robocalls stated that there was an “urgent message” for our client, and provided a contact number. During the phone conversations, Ruben & Rosenthal didn’t mention their company name and didn’t state that they were calling to collect a debt. Instead, Ruben & Rosenthal identified themselves as attorneys calling about a debt that our client was in “trouble” for.
Our client explained to Ruben & Rosenthal that she could not afford to pay the debt (which was for ambulance services), and asked Ruben & Rosenthal to stop calling. Nevertheless, Ruben & Rosenthal continued to call and to robocall about the debt. During conversations, Ruben & Rosenthal would demand that our client make a payment that same evening or Ruben & Rosenthal would seek legal action against our client. Our client alleges that, during one conversation, a Ruben & Rosenthal debt collector told her that the “worst f-ing thing they ever did was save your life!” and that she should go ask her “mommy” or her friends for money to pay the debt. In addition, our client alleges that a Ruben & Rosenthal debt collector threatened to seize her property, including “everything down to the dishes right in front of you!”
Ruben & Rosenthal also talked to our client’s mother about the debt, and at one point asked our client if she had gone to a pawn shop or received any Christmas money that could be used to pay the debt. Moreover, when our client told Ruben & Rosenthal that she had attorney representation, Ruben & Rosenthal refused to take the contact information, and continued to contact her to collect the debt.
The lawsuit charges that Ruben & Rosenthal violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by engaging in harassing behavior; by informing third parties of our client’s debt and stating that our client owed a debt; by contacting our client knowing she was represented by an attorney; by using profane and abusive language; by placing calls without disclosing the identity of the debt collection agency; by using false, deceptive, or misleading representation in connection with the collection of a debt; by misleading our client into believing communication was from a law firm or attorney; by threatening to take action that could not be taken or that was not intended to be taken; by failing to inform our client that the communication was an attempt to collect a debt; by using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt; by failing to sent an initial letter within five days of initial contact; and by failing to send a validation notice stating our client’s right to dispute the debt. The lawsuit also charges that Ruben & Rosenthal violated the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act.