IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No.: ______ 

Shirley Graff, 

 

 Plaintiff/Movant, 

Financial Recovery Services, Inc.; and DOES 

1-10, inclusive, 

 Defendants. 

COMPLAINT 

For this Complaint, the Plaintiff, Shirley Graff, by undersigned counsel, states as follows: 

JURISDICTION

1. This action arises out of Defendant’s repeated violations of the Fair Debt 

Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. (“FDCPA”), and repeated violations of the 

Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-101, et seq. (“CFDCPA”) 

by the Defendant and its agents in their illegal efforts to collect a consumer debt. 

2. Supplemental jurisdiction exists pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. 

3. Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), in that the 

Defendants transact business in this District and a substantial portion of the acts giving rise to 

this action occurred in this District. 

PARTIES

4. Plaintiff, Shirley Graff (“Plaintiff”), is an adult individual residing in Broomfield, 

Colorado, and is a “consumer” as the term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(3).

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5. Defendant Financial Recovery Services, Inc. (“Financial”), is a MN business 

entity with an address of 4900 Viking Drive, Edina, MN 55435, operating as a collection agency, 

and is a “debt collector” as the term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). 

6. Does 1-10 (the “Collectors”) are individual collectors employed by Financial and 

whose identities are currently unknown to the Plaintiff. One or more of the Collectors may be 

joined as parties once their identities are disclosed through discovery. 

7. Financial at all times acted by and through one or more of the Collectors. 

ALLEGATIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL COUNTS

A. The Debt

8. The Plaintiff incurred a financial obligation in the approximate amount of 

$1,112.56 (the “Debt”) to Capital One (the “Creditor”). 

9. The Debt arose from services provided by the Creditor which were primarily for 

family, personal or household purposes and which meets the definition of a “debt” under 15 

U.S.C. § 1692a(5). 

10. The Debt was purchased, assigned or transferred to Financial for collection, or 

Financial was employed by the Creditor to collect the Debt. 

11. The Defendants attempted to collect the Debt and, as such, engaged in 

“communications” as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(2). 

B. Financial Engages in Harassment and Abusive Tactics

FACTS

12. Within the last year, the Defendants contacted the Plaintiff in an attempt to collect 

the Debt. 

13. Defendants keep placing calls to Plaintiff’s cellular phone in an attempt to collect 

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a Debt that defaulted over ten (10) years ago. 

14. On September 21, 2011, Defendants placed three (3) consecutive calls within four 

(4) minutes to Plaintiff in an attempt to collect this debt. 

15. When Defendants spoke with Plaintiff on September 21, 2011, Defendants told 

Plaintiff they wanted to “keep [Plaintiff] from being haunted by [the Debt] in the future,” 

implying that the Plaintiff engaged in disgraceful conduct. 

16. Defendant sent Plaintiff an invalid 30 day letter misrepresenting the character of 

the debt. 

C. Plaintiff Suffered Actual Damages

17. The Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer actual damages as a result of the 

Defendants’ unlawful conduct. 

18. As a direct consequence of the Defendants’ acts, practices and conduct, the 

Plaintiff suffered and continues to suffer from humiliation, anger, anxiety, emotional distress, 

fear, frustration and embarrassment. 

19. The Defendants’ conduct was so outrageous in character, and so extreme in 

degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and 

utterly intolerable in a civilized community. 

COUNT I

VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL FAIR DEBTCOLLECTION PRACTICES ACT - 15 

U.S.C. § 1692, et seq.

20. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the above paragraphs of this Complaint 

as though fully stated herein. 

21. The Defendants’ conduct violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692d in that Defendants engaged 

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in behavior the natural consequence of which was to harass, oppress, or abuse the Plaintiff in 

connection with the collection of a debt. 

22. The Defendants’ conduct violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692d(5) in that Defendants 

caused a phone to ring repeatedly and engaged the Plaintiff in telephone conversations, with the 

intent to annoy and harass. 

23. The Defendants’ conduct violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2) in that Defendants 

misrepresented the character, amount and legal status of the debt. 

24. The Defendants’ conduct violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10) in that Defendants 

employed false and deceptive means to collect a debt. 

25. The foregoing acts and omissions of the Defendant constitute numerous and 

multiple violations of the FDCPA, including every one of the above-cited provisions. 

26. The Plaintiff is entitled to damages as a result of Defendant’s violations. 

COUNT II

VIOLATIONS OF THE COLORADO FAIR DEBTCOLLECTION PRACTICES ACT 

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-101, et seq.

27. The Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the above paragraphs of this 

Complaint as though fully stated herein. 

28. The Plaintiff is a “consumer” as defined by Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-103(4). 

29. The Defendants are a “collection agency” and “debt collectors” as defined by 

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-103(2) and (7). 

30. The Defendants communicated with the Plaintiff in connection with the collection 

of a debt at an unusual time, place, or manner which they knew or should have known to be 

inconvenient to the Plaintiff, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-105(1)(a). 

31. The Defendants engaged in a conduct the natural consequence of which was to 

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harass, oppress, or abuse the Plaintiff in connection with the collection of a debt, in violation of 

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-106(1). 

32. The Defendants caused the Plaintiff’s telephone to ring or engaged the Plaintiff in 

telephone conversations repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass the 

Plaintiff, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-106(1)(e). 

33. The Defendants used false, deceptive, or misleading representations or means in 

connection with the collection of a debt, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-107(1). 

34. The Defendants falsely represented the character, amount, or legal status of a 

debt, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-107(1)(b)(I). 

35. The Defendants falsely represented or implied that the Plaintiff engaged in 

disgraceful conduct, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-107(1)(h). 

36. The Defendants used unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempted to 

collect a debt, in violation of Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-108(1). 

37. The foregoing acts and omissions of the Defendant constitute numerous and 

multiple violations of the CFDCPA, including every one of the above-cited provisions. 

38. The Plaintiff is entitled to damages as a result of Defendant’s violations. 

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully prays that judgment be awarded in his favor and 

against the Defendants as follows: 

1. Against the named Defendants, jointly and severally, awarding Plaintiff actual 

damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(1) or Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-

113(1)(a); 

2. Against each of the named Defendants, awarding Plaintiff statutory damages of 

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$1,000.00 pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1692k(a)(2)(A) or Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-

113(1)(b); 

3. Against the named Defendants, jointly and severally, awarding Plaintiffs 

recovery of his litigation costs of litigation and reasonable attorney’s fees 

pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3) and Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-14-113(1)(c); 

4. Granting Plaintiff such other and further relief as may be just and proper. 

TRIAL BY JURY DEMANDED ON ALL COUNTS 

Dated: October 14, 2011 

Respectfully submitted, 

 By __/s/ Lark Fogel______________ 

Lark Fogel, Esq. 

 Bar Number: 030383 

P.O. Box 2486 

Elizabeth, Colorado 80107 

Tel. 303.596.4838 

Fax.203.653.3424 

larklaw@gmail.com 

 Attorneys for Plaintiff 

 Of Counsel To: 

 LEMBERG & ASSOCIATES L.L.C. 

 1100 Summer Street, 3rd Floor 

 Stamford, CT 06905 

 Telephone: (203) 653-2250 

 Facsimile: (203) 653-3424 

Plaintiff:

Shirley Graff 

250 W. Midway Blvd. 

Broomfield, CO 80020 

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