TAMPA – A Pinellas County couple claims they were harassed by debt collectors in an attempt to collect an alleged debt.
Ghassan Shahin and Jaroslava Shahin filed a complaint on Oct. 13 in the Tampa Division for the Middle District of Florida against American Express Bank FSB, GC Services LP, Nationwide Credit Inc. and Central Credit Services LLC alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that in October 2014, they started receiving phone calls from the defendants in their attempt to collect a debt. The suit states that despite plaintiffs' withdrawal of any prior express consent to call them and direction for the defendants to contact their attorney instead, the defendants continuously called plaintiffs' cellular telephones using an automatic telephone dialing system and/or artificial or prerecorded voice, thereby causing plaintiffs to suffer damages.
The plaintiffs hold American Express Bank FSB, GC Services LP, Nationwide Credit Inc. and Central Credit Services LLC responsible because the defendants allegedly caused plaintiffs to feel harassed and abused because of their incessant calls, unlawfully utilized an auto-dialer for non-emergency calls and failed to acquire express consent before contacting plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against defendant, statutory damages and any other relief the court deems just. They are represented by Christopher W. Boss of Boss Law in St. Petersburg.
Tampa Division for the Middle District of Florida Case number 8:16-cv-02913