Target sued over debt collection practices

A western Pennsylvania woman has filed a federal lawsuit against department store chain Target, claiming that the debt collection practices of its subsidiary Target National Bank (TNB) led to false affidavits being used to go after customers, according to the Washington Post. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order to cease the practices, alleging that TNB violated federal racketeering and Pennsylvania fair credit laws. "TNB took the false and misleading affidavits and utilized them to secure judgments against hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of alleged debtors," said the lawsuit, according to the news source. Vicki Higgins claims that the notarized debt affidavits prepared by Target official Adam Grim were executed without reviewing customers' records on behalf of the bank. In 2009, Higgins was sued over an alleged credit card debt of $5,600 to the bank, which was actually incurred by another individual who shared her name. Previous to the federal lawsuit, Higgins sued the company for making repeated attempts to collect the debt she did not owe. The previous lawsuit is still pending, according to the Murrysville Star.