Chase has resumed suing indebted customers. Courts around the country have grown too accepting of what big banks and debt collectors say,. And the justice they dispense can feel as cursory and hurried as the suits that Chase files. Chase affidavits contain stock language that the “signing officer” has “personal knowledge of and access to [Chase’s] books and records.” That “personal knowledge” is limited, said one signing officer who declined to be named. Chase does not expect signing officers to perform a forensic review of an account but rather to follow computer prompts to complete the affidavit, said the employee. “We just work with what’s on the screen.” The bank is back to its old ways, say consumer lawyers.Chase declined to discuss its process for creating affidavits, but the bank said it satisfies the rules set by courts in the places where it operates.
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