Court OKs case against debt collectors for 'outrageous' threats.

Trial, September, 2007 by Sileo, Carmel

A man may sue a credit card company after its debt collectors used illegal threats that may have contributed to his mentally ill wife's suicide, the Sixth Circuit has ruled. In partially reversing a lower court decision, the court found that collections agents for Discover Financial Services engaged in "outrageous conduct" when they threatened the woman with criminal prosecution and imprisonment. (MacDermid v. Discover Fin. Servs., 488 F.3d 721 (6th Cir. 2007).)

In 2002, Nina MacDermid of Linville, Tennessee, applied for a credit card using her husband's name and credit history. She received several credit cards, including three from Discover Financial Services. She also rented a post office box so that she could intercept and use the cards without her...

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