A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York has granted summary judgment in favor of a collection agency after it was sued by an individual for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because a collection letter she received failed “to adequately identify the creditor to whom the debt is owed and fails to notify her that the stated amount owed might increase due to interest, fees, or collection costs.”
The judge, Joseph Bianco, also recently ruled in favor of a collection agency in another matter involving the FDCPA. The case was first written about by Reiss F. Wilks & Ethan G. Ostroff from Troutman Sanders.
The plaintiff filed suit after receiving collection letters for unpaid medical debts. The letters identified the medical organization as the “client” at the top of the letter, the “amount due,” and identified the defendant as a “debt collection agency engaged by the above-creditor.”
Judge Bianco ruled the letter was not false or misleading because the letter “adequately” identified the medical facility as the creditor. There was no need to include language related to whether the amount may increase due to interest, fees, or other costs because the agreement between the medical facility and the plaintiff did not include any reference to those items.
