Nearly a year after getting the ball to the one-yard-line, a District Court judge in Connecticut has finally crossed the goal line, granting a defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the last remaining claim in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case over how it attempted to collect on an unpaid credit card debt.
The background: Back in 2022, the defendant received an account from a credit card company to collect on an unpaid debt owed by the plaintiff. The defendant sent the plaintiff a collection letter about the account. The letter informed the plaintiff that he “had an AMERICAN EXPRESS account with account number ending in 32009,” that had a balance of $1,225.26 as of November 3, 2022.
- The plaintiff send the creditor a letter, which was forwarded by the creditor to the defendant.
- On December 6, the defendant sent the plaintiff letter, along with seven credit card statements. The letter informed the plaintiff that the defendant was responding to the debt validation request. The most recent statement included with the letter indicated that the balance on the account was $1,225.26.
- The plaintiff filed suit, alleging, among other claims, that the defendant violated Section 1692g(b) of the FDCPA because it failed to validate the account.
The ruling: Judge Michael P. Shea of the District Court for the District of Connecticut, has previously ruled on the other claims alleged by the plaintiff, granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss.
- Here, Judge Shea noted that previous statements do count as valid verification of a debt.
- In this case, the plaintiff was sent seven statements that listed his name and address, and the balance on the most recent statement matched what the defendant was attempting to collect, Judge Shea noted.
- ” No rational factfinder could find for [the plaintiff] in light of these undisputed facts,” Judge Shea wrote.
