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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.
We generally don’t see a lot of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits alleging violations of Section 1692e(11), so in and of itself, this complaint is a little unique in a sea of copycat complaints that are filed daily. In this case, the plaintiff alleges the defendant left a number of voicemail messages without ever disclosing that the calls were an attempt to collect a debt and that any information would be used for that purpose.
The background: Over the course of about two months last year, the plaintiff allegedly received 11 voicemail messages from the defendant. The complaint does not mention whether these were calls made to the plaintiff’s phone that she chose not to answer or not. The complaint also does not provide any information about what the content of the messages were, other than to mention what they allegedly did not include — any reference to them being attempts to collect on a debt.
- The content of the message can be important to the details of this case, because they could have been limited content messages, which are allowed under Regulation F and do not count as communications to attempt to collect on a debt if the collector follows the scripts laid out by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- On top of that, Section 1692e(11) says that a collector has engaged in misrepresentation when failing to disclose in the initial written communication with the consumer or, if the initial communication with the consumer is oral, that the collector is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose. The complaint does not mention whether the plaintiff received any written communications from the defendant.
- The defendant’s actions cause the plaintiff to suffer actual damages in the form of invasion of privacy, intrusion upon seclusion, personal embarrassment, loss of productive time, emotional distress, frustration, anger, and humiliation.
