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DISCLAIMER: This article is based on a complaint. The defendant has not responded to the complaint to present its side of the case. The claims mentioned are accusations and should be considered as such until and unless proven otherwise.
Right from the jump, I will tell you that this is one of those complaints that creates more questions than it answers. It will be interesting to see how it proceeds. A collector is being sued in Missouri federal court for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it failed to identify itself as a collector in a text message sent to the plaintiff and failed to send a validation notice, among other claims. But, interestingly, the plaintiff is not claiming anything related to being offer to settle a $1,600 debt for $150, only to be told later that the debt could only be settled for $940.
The background: In October 2023, the plaintiff received an email from the creditor, seeking to collect on a debt of $1,573.91, but informing the plaintiff that it was willing to settle the debt for $150.
- Later that month, the plaintiff received a text message from the defendant. The text message was from the “pre legal” department saying it was the final attempt to obtain payment “prior to your claim being petitioned.” The text then asks the plaintiff to contact the defendant immediately and says this is the final attempt to make contact. Twice.
- The plaintiff contacted the defendant and during the conversation, was asked if he had received anything in the mail, and told the representative he had not. The plaintiff then informed the representative about the offer to settle the debt from the creditor. After placing the plaintiff on hold, the representative said the best he could settle the debt for was $940.
- The plaintiff set up a payment plan to repay the debt.
- Eight days later, the plaintiff contacted the defendant and requested validation of the debt, after which he received an email with details of the payment plan.
The claims: The lawsuit accuses the defendant of violating Section 1692e(10) of the FDCPA and Section 1006.6 of Regulation F by sending text messages to the plaintiff without receiving prior consent to communicate with the plaintiff, Section 1692e(11) of the FDPCA by failing to disclose that the communications were coming from a debt collector, and Section 1692g(a) of the FDCPA by failing to send a written notice about the debt.
