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Capital One Sues Its Cardholders More Than Any Other Bank

Nicholas Kamm
/
AFP/Getty Images via NPR
People use an ATM at a Capital One Bank branch in Washington in April 2012.

The investigative journalism non-profit ProPublica went through court data from 1996 through 2014 in 11 states, including Florida. Capital One has more court filings than any other lender during those years.

In each state, Capital One stood out as the bank that sues its customers the most and for the smallest amount -- as little as $1,000.

Capital One spokeswoman Tatiana Stead told ProPublica that the bank tries to work with customers who fall behind in their credit card payments instead of suing them. However, Stead says, when customers don’t pay, the bank has an obligation to recover some of the losses.

Most of the customers being sued have poor credit and low-income. But Stead says that Capital One provides credit to borrowers that might not qualify with other banks.

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