OCALA — An Ocala resident has filed suit against a debt collector for alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Craig Hughes filed a complaint Oct. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division, against Nationwide Recovery Service Inc., alleging that the debt collector violated the TCPA by placing intrusive and unwanted calls.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that since December 2014, he has been bombarded by calls from the defendant in an attempt to collect a debt from him. The plaintiff believes that the calls allegedly were made using an automatic telephone dialing system and/or an artificial or prerecorded voice, but despite the repeated demands from him to cease calling his cellphone, the defendant continued to ignore his requests, which caused the plaintiff to suffer from harm including emotional distress.
The plaintiff holds Nationwide Recovery Service Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly called the plaintiff with such frequency as can be expected to harass and abuse, caused placement of non-emergency calls without prior express consent from the plaintiff and attempted to enforce payment of a dubious debt.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendant for damages, costs, interest, attorneys' fees and other relief that the court may deem just. He is represented by Stefan A. Alvarez, William Peerce Howard, Amanda J. Allen and Brando J. Rafool of The Consumer Protection Firm PLLC in Tampa.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division, Case number 5:16-cv-00613