Bank of America to Pay a Couple $1M for Automated Calls

A Federal judge has ordered the Bank of America to pay a Florida couple $1 million for a slew of automated calls that occurred over a four-year period. According to the order, the relentless calls violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and as such the bank must pay the couple $1,500 for every prerecorded message received.

In a statement, Joyce and Nelson Coniglio said they were harassed by telephone calls repeatedly after telling the bank on multiple occasions to stop. The calls started after the Coniglio's began having problems with their mortgage payments.

The couple's son, Jason, said that the Bank of America called constantly. His mother received phone calls on her cellphone during dinner, his father's cell phone was called time after time, and then after arriving home after being out, there would be additional messages on the answering machine.

A spokesperson for the Bank of America said the calls were not meant as harassment but rather an attempt to keep the couple from going into foreclosure. However, after the judge reviewed the case and saw that in four years the couple had received a minimum of 700 calls and had been advised to stop calling, it was obvious that both Acts had been violated.

The Florida couple is in their late 60's and after getting behind in their mortgage payments back in 2009, the massive phone call campaign began. The couple also confirmed that it was common for them to receive up to five calls in a single day.

They added that the calls were not only harassing but actually abusive and showed clear patterns of outrageous behavior. In addition to the calls, the couple received demanding letters for collection that included misleading and false information. Along with telling the Bank of America to stop calling they sent several cease-and-desist letters but to no avail.

Finally reaching a breaking point, the couple filed a formal complaint last July in Federal court. Because the Bank of America failed to meet the mandated deadline set by the court, the couple won their claim by default. In addition, non-action from the bank resulted in the normal cost of $500 per call being increased to $1,500 per call.

As expected, the Bank of America asked the Federal judge to reconsider but with such strong evidence against them, all pleas were rejected. One of the couple's attorneys, Billy Howard, said the decision of the court was an epic win not just for his clients but consumers throughout the United States.

When approached for comment, Dan Frahm, senior vice president at the Bank of America said they were simply trying to help the couple. Following the Coniglio's case, three other couples are taking action.

In one case, an older couple from California received more than 2,000 calls, an Indiana family 600 calls, and a family from Arkansas 350 times, all from the Bank of America.

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