Federal Lawsuits Against Debt Relief Companies
An automatically updated record of federal court cases involving debt relief companies and debt buyers — useful for consumers evaluating providers, researching companies contacting them about a debt, and for companies learning from industry patterns.
Important: All case information is sourced directly from court documents and reported as alleged. These are allegations, not findings of fact. Every defendant is presumed innocent and has the right to contest the claims in court.
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Quick Answer: Jaime Faria, appearing pro se, sued Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC and Scott & Associates, P.C. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Texas Debt Collection Act. The complaint alleges that after Faria perfected a de novo appeal that annulled a justice-court judgment against him, the defendants continued to pursue post-judgment discovery, verified a false past-due balance to Equifax, and sought an ex parte receivership over his bank accounts based on the annulled judgment. Faria seeks actual, statutory, and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Zixuan Wang sued Transworld Systems, Inc. and Experian Information Solutions, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Central District of California under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act. Wang alleges that Transworld reported a non-existent Verizon debt that caused a significant drop in her credit score, leading to denial of a vehicle lease and requiring her to spend extensive time disputing the inaccurate information. She seeks actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, restitution, attorney fees, and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Sean Terrell, a consumer, sued LVNV Funding, LLC in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in and for Palm Beach County, Florida (the case was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No. 9:26-cv-80918-WPD), alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b), for failing to conduct a reasonable investigation and correct inaccurate information LVNV furnished to Equifax and Trans Union about a charged-off, purchased debt account — including an incorrect original creditor, incorrect balance, incorrect open date, and incorrect "Open" status — across six rounds of consumer disputes. Terrell seeks actual damages, statutory damages of $1,000 per willful violation, punitive damages, and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Kristina Johnson, proceeding pro se, sued Midland Credit Management, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, Case No. 8:26-cv-02085, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act/Regulation Z, and the Fair Credit Billing Act. The complaint alleges MCM, as purchaser and furnisher of two charged-off consumer accounts — a Best Egg personal loan and a Comenity Capital Bank Dell Pay credit account — continued reporting both as valid delinquent debts to the credit bureaus despite unresolved billing and notice disputes with the original creditors, and without validating either debt after Plaintiff's written demands. Plaintiff seeks actual, statutory, and punitive damages, an order to delete the reporting, and attorneys' fees and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Tanisha Shelton, proceeding pro se, sued National Credit Adjusters, L.L.C. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:26-cv-02459, alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. The complaint alleges National Credit Adjusters furnished inaccurate, incomplete, misleading and/or unverifiable information about an alleged debt account to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and failed to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation after Plaintiff disputed the reporting both directly and through the credit bureaus. Plaintiff seeks actual, statutory, and punitive damages, correction or deletion of the disputed account, and other relief. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Paul Hyun sued LVNV Funding, LLC, Equifax Information Services, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., and TransUnion, LLC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The complaint alleges that LVNV Funding failed to conduct a reasonable investigation of inaccurate information on Hyun's credit reports and attempted to collect a debt he did not owe, while the credit reporting agencies failed to properly investigate his disputes regarding a fraudulent utility account. Hyun seeks actual, statutory, and punitive damages, as well as attorney's fees and an injunction to remove the erroneous information from his credit file. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Charles E. McInnis sued Midland Credit Management, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, among other laws. McInnis alleges that Midland Credit Management falsely reported debts that did not belong to him, failed to investigate disputes regarding these debts, and continued to report inaccurate information despite being notified of the identity theft. He seeks actual, statutory, and punitive damages, as well as attorney's fees and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
Quick Answer: Luis Daniel Andino Salgado filed a lawsuit against Midland Credit Management, Inc. and Resurgent Capital Services LP in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to conduct a reasonable investigation into fraudulent accounts attributed to the plaintiff, which were opened without his knowledge or consent, resulting in damage to his credit rating and emotional distress. The plaintiff seeks actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. This is a legal filing containing allegations; no finding of liability has been made.
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