Dunbar woman wants credit card debt erased for Sears contacting her

CHARLESTON – A Dunbar woman wants the balance on a credit card wiped out because the company contacted her after she retained counsel.

In a lawsuit filed last month in Kanawha Circuit Court, Diana Lynn Lanham says she has an account with Sears, Sears MasterCard which is payable through CitiBank USA.

Lanham claims that on July 11, 2005, attorney Andrew Nason sent a letter to Sears MasterCard by certified mail that she was a client of his. The letter was accepted and signed for by David Conley of Sears MasterCard on July 13, the suit states.

However, Sears still continued to contact the plaintiff, the suit alleges.

On Nov. 21, 2005, she received a collection notice on the account.

The suit says contacting by the defendants or agents of the defendants after they were advised and knew plaintiff had an attorney constitutes violation of WV Code 46A-2-128(e) and entitles plaintiff to award of statutory damages.

Also, the suit says the action was an intentional violation of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and is grounds for the court canceling the entire obligation. The conduct, the suit claims, represents intentional violations and an intentional disregard of the CCPA.

Therefore, Lanham seeks statutory damages for the maximum amount for the defendants contacting her after she had retained counsel. And she seeks the cancellation of the debt for violation of the CCPA. She also seeks attorney fees, court costs and other relief deemed just.

She seeks a jury trial.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 05-C-2763