This is one that could become a thing. A collection operation is facing a class-action complaint alleging that the tear-off portion of the Model Validation Notice, which includes a box allowing the consumer to indicate how much of a payment is being made along with instructions about whom to pay, coerces individuals to make payments and is thus a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Regulation F.
The background: The complaint, filed in the District Court for the Southeastern District of New Jersey, seeks to include anyone who received a Model Validation Notice from the defendant in the past year. The plaintiff received the notice last month in regard to an unpaid medical debt.
- “The inclusion of a payment option in the notice only serves one purpose — to inform the borrower that a payment is expected,” the complaint reads. “Any consumer, even a least sophisticated one, would be induced to submit a payment if one were requested.”
- The notices matched exactly the ones issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when it enacted Regulation F. The complaint makes no mention of the fact that the notice was approved by a federal regulator.
- Even though the plaintiff did not make a payment, he suffered an injury and thus has standing to sue because the anxiety suffered after receiving the notice forced him to purchase an emotional support hamster. The hamster managed to escape from his cage the day after being purchased and then chewed up the plaintiff’s cash, credit, and debit cards, rendering him unable to make a payment, before getting into his ball and rolling away.
The claims: The complaint accuses the defendant of violating Sections 1692a(14), 1692e(22), and 1692g(c)(4)(iii)(9er) of the FDCPA, as well as Section 1006.157 of Regulation F, and state law in New Jersey.
- The plaintiff is seeking $1 million in damages as well as a new hamster.
If You Made It This Far and Haven’t Figured it Out Yet …
