Manuel Faustos and his wife just won a lawsuit against Credigy Services Corp., a collection agency based in Georgia. Exact records are hard to come by, but the award is believed to be one of the largest ever for a consumer in a debt-collection case.

“I don’t care about the money,” Faustos was quoted as saying in a news story about the lawsuit. “It was never about the money. It was about protecting my family, providing for my wife and children. These people threatened to take it all away from me.”

Over two years, court records show, Credigy callers in Georgia or Brazil called the Faustoses more than 90 times and sent numerous mailings demanding payment. The bill they were being harassed about had actually been paid off a few years before the harassing phone calls came.

Desperate for help, the couple turned to the Watsonville Law Center, a nonprofit agency that represents the rural poor. The law center hooked them up with attorney Balam Letona, a Santa Clara law school graduate who seemed to be heaven sent.

In retaliation, Credigy’s attorneys subpoenaed most of their children and sought their credit, mortgage and medical records. Especially nasty tactics included bringing up past driving charges against Manuel Faustos and disclosing that the home they live in, which is in the name of one of their sons, was in foreclosure.

After nine days in court, the jurors weren’t buying any of that. They awarded the couple $100,000 in damages and $400,000 in punitive damages.

I’d like to know what legal basis they had for subpoenaing their children, bringing up his driving record, or seeking their medical records in court. That has nothing to do with the validity of an alleged charge-card debt at all.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com.

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