Plaintiff Sues AT&T, Debt Collector for Negative Reports on Phone Not Received

AT&T continued to send monthly wireless phone bills to a customer who never received a cellular phone promised to him by the carrier, alleged pro se plaintiff Charles Landwer, a Maricopa County, Arizona, resident, who filed suit (docket 2:24-cv-01290) Thursday vs. AT&T, accounts receivable management firm Mrs BPO and debt collection firm I.C. System in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. Landwer received a solicitation during which he was offered a free phone, "several months" of free service and enrollment in the Lifeline program, alleged the complaint. He agreed to set up an account with AT&T to “keep in touch with doctors and arrange medical appointments,” it said. Landwer never received the phone, never made a cellular phone call, and never turned on the phone purportedly sent to him by AT&T, but the carrier continued to bill him monthly, even after he explained that he didn’t receive the phone, it said. AT&T hired Mrs BPO to collect the delinquent debt, and the defendant immediately posted negative information to the credit bureaus regarding Landwer, the complaint said. Landwer's application for an assisted living facility room was denied because of a delinquent credit account reported by Mrs BPO, it said. In checking credit reports in July 2023, Landwer found that Mrs BPO was reporting “inaccurate information” regarding his AT&T account; he discovered last month that Mrs BPO reported Landwer’s account with AT&T is in collection with an unpaid balance of over $380, it said. After sending letters to AT&T regarding the errant account reporting in February and March, the plaintiff didn’t receive a reply. Though he did not believe he owed AT&T anything, in April Landwer called the AT&T accounts receivable department and paid the $383.22 “allegedly owed” so that he could settle the matter “and get back to his medical treatments.” Several weeks later, I.C. System called Landwer and asked him to pay the outstanding debt to AT&T that he had paid the prior month, it said. I.C. System was “trying to collect a debt that the Plaintiff didn’t legally owe and that the Plaintiff had already paid,” the complaint said. Landwer claims against AT&T violations of the Fair Debit Collection Practices and Fair Credit Reporting (FCRA) acts; and he claims violation of the FCRA vs. MRS BPO and I.C. System. He seeks actual damages proven at trial or statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 per violation; punitive damages vs. all defendants; and legal costs.