Former Charter Customer Sues Over 'Erroneous' Reporting of Account Debt

Debt collection service IC System continued to inaccurately report late-payment charges on a Charter Communications customer’s account after he disputed the information to credit reporting firms Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, said a complaint Wednesday (docket 6:24-cv-00371) against IC System, Charter and Equifax in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Orlando.

In March 2018, plaintiff Max Kusner canceled his service with Charter in Volusia County, Florida, returned his equipment and didn’t owe any further monies to the provider, said the complaint. Charter nonetheless hired IC System to collect an “illegitimate debt” from the former customer and last month, IC System demanded a balance of $188.05 from Kusner, it said.

The collection letter doesn’t advise Kusner that due to the debt's age, “he cannot be sued on it,” the complaint said. The letter also didn’t advise Kusner of his rights on how to dispute the debt, it said.

Kusner obtained copies of his consumer disclosure reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion in January and saw that all three were reporting IC System’s purported debt, said the complaint. The plaintiff sent dispute letters to all three, informing them of the “erroneous reporting,” it said. TransUnion and Experian “deleted the account in response to the dispute,” it said, but Equifax verified the IC System account as past due with a balance of $188.05.

Due to the defendants’ conduct, Kusner was “deterred from making credit applications” over concerns he wouldn’t receive favorable credit terms as a result of their “derogatory and continued reporting” of the Charter account, and he didn’t want to further damage his credit score with “futile” credit inquiries, the complaint said.

Kusner suffered emotional distress, anxiety, inconvenience, frustration, annoyance, fear, and confusion as a result of the defendants’ actions, said the complaint. Despite “exhaustive efforts” to convey to IC System that he didn’t owe the debt, including supplying supporting documentation, Kusner “must simply endure” defendants’ reporting of the account, it said.

Kusner claims violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act vs. IC System for willfully or negligently furnishing inaccurate trade-line information within his credit reports, and failing to properly reinvestigate his disputes, and against Equifax for failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in preparation of his credit report and for refusing to properly reinvestigate his report after receiving his dispute. He also brings claims of unlawful debt collection practices under the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) vs. IC System and Charter and violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) against IC System.

The plaintiff seeks judgments vs. IC System and Equifax for maximum statutory damages for FCRA violations; vs. Charter and IC System declaring they violated the FCCPA; vs IC System for maximum statutory damages for FDCPA violations; actual, compensatory and punitive damages; and attorneys’ fees and costs. Charter, Equifax and IC System didn’t comment Thursday.