As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Charter Communications has been sending letters to ex-customers threatening to damage their credit scores unless they resubscribe to their Spectrum TV, internet, and/or voice service. Allegedly, these threats come disguised as a debt forgiveness program, but not every ex-customer who receives these threats owes any money to Charter Communications.
These threats to ex-customers over debt they do not have may be unlawful. If you believe Charter Communications could be threatening you, contact one of our lawyers for a free consultation.
LA Times: Charter Communications Sends Threatening Letters to Customers About Debt
LA resident David Schklair reported to the Los Angeles times that he received a threatening letter from Charter Communications, the parent company of his former cable provider, Spectrum. According to the Los Angeles Times, the letter said that if he should resubscribe to Spectrum’s cable service, they would stop reporting his debt to credit agencies. Included in the letter were vague references to the sorts of trouble that could follow from a bad credit history.
The problem is, according to the LA Times, David did not have any debt owed to Spectrum, nor did he receive any notice of missed payments. David reported that when he called Spectrum regarding his balance, they found no outstanding obligations. Had David not followed up on his account, he could have easily been tricked into renewing his subscription because of the misleading and threatening letter he allegedly received from Charter Communications.
Congressman Calls For CFPB Investigation into Charter Communications’ Debt Collection Practices
Government officials have previously criticized Charter Communication’s debt collection practices. In 2020 NY State Congressman Anthony Brindisi wrote an open letter calling for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to investigate Charter Communications. According to him, customers who mistakenly fail to return equipment have been sent into collections without ever knowing that the equipment was missing, or that they owed money for it. He writes, “after believing they had paid their final bill in full and returned their equipment, customers are finding themselves face-to-face with this unknown debt collector.”
According to Brindisi, Charter communications is sending customer information, without their knowledge or consent, to collection agencies such as Credit Management L.P. potentially affecting the customer’s credit scores.