A putative class action suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Bank of America for allegedly suing consumers in default on credit card debt after the bank had already relinquished its ownership interest by selling the debt via a securitization of a pool of accounts.
The case — Willard v. Bank of America, et. al. — was brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Pennsylvania debt collection statutes. Bank of America won a judgment against plaintiff G. Veronica Willard for unpaid credit card debt that Willard contends had been sold and purchased several times, eventually winding up with Wilmington Trust Co. Willard claims that since Bank of America did not require Wilmington to file a termination statement, the bank forfeited its ability to collect the debt via litigation.
According to the complaint, Willard alleges that the bank “engaged in a scheme whereby they issue credit cards to consumers and then seek to collect the amounts allegedly due from each card holder’s use of the credit card, despite the fact that B of A has sold, transferred, assigned or otherwise conveyed its beneficial interest in each consumer’s credit card account to a trust as part of a financial transaction known as a credit card securitization. Having relinquished its beneficial interest, B of A no longer has a debt obligation owed to it by Plaintiff or the Class.”
The proposed class action would include all U.S. residents sued by Bank of America to collect credit card debt already sold in absence of issuing a termination statement.
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