LOS ANGELES, CA — A major credit card company has agreed to pay over $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by several California district attorneys, who claimed the company’s debt collection calls amounted to harassment of its customers.
The Nevada-based Credit One Bank was ordered to pay $9 million in civil penalties and $1.2 million in investigative costs in connection with the judgment entered Thursday. The lawsuit was filed by the district attorney’s offices of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Clara counties.
Credit One Bank did not admit any wrongdoing in the case.
The lawsuit claimed that Credit One’s policy allowed its vendors to make between eight and 10 calls per day to customers who had overdue credit card accounts. The calls could be placed on consecutive days, the suit claimed.
The calls were in excess of what’s allowed under state law, the lawsuit claimed.
“Credit card companies do not have the right to badger consumers and invade their privacy with non-stop phone calls to collect debt,” LA County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement announcing the settlement. “We are sending a strong message today that companies will not get away with harassing consumers in our state. I thank my office’s Consumer Protection Division and our partner district attorneys for their steadfast commitment to holding companies accountable for unlawful business practices. We will continue to fight for consumers to rein in abusive debt collection.”