CHARLESTON — A man is suing Branch Banking & Trust Company, a debt collector, citing alleged unfair and unconscionable collection practices.
Jeffery Warren filed a complaint on Aug. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Charleston Division against Branch Banking & Trust Company alleging that the debt collector violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on April 6, he mailed a letter to the defendant withdrawing his consent to contact him and advising the defendant that he had retained an attorney to represent him and providing the lawyer's contact details. Shortly after, he began receiving calls from the defendant multiple times per day about an alleged debt that caused him to be annoyed, inconvenienced and harassed, he alleges. The plaintiff holds Branch Banking & Trust Company responsible because the defendant allegedly made calls even after he had withdrawn his consent to contact him and made calls using an automatic telephone dialing system.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks an award for statutory damages of $500 for each violation, treble damages of $1,000 for each willful violation, an injunction barring the defendant from calling him, costs of litigation, attorney's fees and such other relief that is just and proper. He is represented by Benjamin Sheridan and Daniel K. Armstrong of Klein & Sheridan LC in Hurricane.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Charleston Division Case number 2:16-cv-08259