Nelson and Joyce Coniglio are $1 million dollars richer since they sued Bank of America over excessive and harassing debt loan collection calls, after they fell behind on their Florida home mortgage payments back in 2009. ABC News is reporting that the Coniglios were called repeatedly and endured harassing behavior on the part of the automated robo calling system, as the bank tried to collect on the past due mortgage.
Court documents outline the following complaints in the lawsuit against Bank of America. For over four years, the married couple has received about 700 collection calls from an automated system. The automated system also dialed each number that the couple had available, from their home phone to their cell phones, leaving messages on each. The collection calls would come at all times of the day and night, leaving the 69-year-old couple exhausted.
And when the Bank of America wasn’t worrying the couple to death with their relentless phone calls, they were sending letters, threatening to foreclose on the home. The Coniglios say they even sent letters to the bank asking them to cease all phone calls, but the calls continued. That’s when the courageous couple decided to take the power back and filed suit against the company, using the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which outlines the manner in which these collection companies, agencies, and banks collect on money owed to them.
Bank of America says that the Coniglios got it all wrong, and that bank was concerned that the couple could lose the home to foreclosure. The calls were meant to be helpful, not threatening, according to documents filed in court. This isn’t the first time that Bank of America has had to pony up the dough for the harassing autocalls. In the other cases, they decided to settle, according to Daily Mail .
The main reason the Coniglios was successful in winning this lawsuit was due to Bank of America’s failure to respond before the deadline ended. The judge awarded the elderly couple exactly $1,051,000 in monies due, including court costs and other attorney fees related to the suit. In a response to the lawsuit, Dan Frahm, Senior VP of Bank of America, made the following statement.
“Because our calls were not answered and our efforts to help the Coniglios avoid foreclosure were urgent, these calls continued. We are committed to help homeowners in need of assistance avoid foreclosure.”
Recently, Inquisitr reported on the case of Jessica Burke, a woman who sued a debt collector and his company for $33 million and won.
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