Capital One Financial Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation (Capital One) is a Fortune 500 company and one of the top ten (10) largest banks in the United States. Capital One provides various financial products and services that include credit cards, auto loans, and home loans. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

The Better Business Bureau has received 5,139 consumer complaints against Capital One in the last three (3) years. Almost half of these consumer complaints are related to Capital One’s billing and debt collection practices. The most common complaints leveled against Capital One include:

• Attempting to collect debts not owed by the consumer;
• Attempting to collect more than what is owed;
• Making false statements;
• Harassing consumers by calling repeatedly and calling at places of employment; and
• Threatening legal action if payment is not made.

For example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is a Government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive or abusive debt collection practices, received a complaint against Capital One for repeatedly hounding a consumer by phone. Capital One repeatedly called the consumer at his job, even after being informed by the consumer that personal calls were not permitted at work.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) prevent creditors and debt collectors from abusive and harassing debt collection practices. This includes calling consumers repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass. Although federal and state law does not state the exact number of calls that would constitute harassment, there is a large volume of case law that interprets three (3) or more calls a day from the same debt collector to be harassing.

The FDCPA and the RDCPA also prohibits creditors and debt collectors from contacting a consumer at work if the creditor or debt collector knows that the consumer’s employer prohibits such phone calls.

Given Capital One’s clear violations of the law, the company settled the complaint and provided monetary relief to the consumer.

Creditors and debt collectors should be held accountable for these unethical and unlawful practices. If you are being harassed or subjected to any of these, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices, it is time to hold Capital One accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.