The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) requires, among other things, that debt collectors, within five days after first communicating with an individual debtor about a debt, to provide the debtor with a validation notice provides the consumer a written notice containing -- along with other information – the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed and the amount of the debt. This notice is sometimes referred to as a debt validation notice. Simply stating the amount due is not enough, however. The notice must state the amount of the debt clearly enough that the recipient is likely to understand it. It is not enough for a debt collection agency simply to include the proper debt validation notice in a mailing to a consumer. Congress intended that such notice be clearly conveyed. Therefore, a notice that letter fails to state amount of debt where a consumer reading it could reasonably interpret the amount of debt in two ways, is a violation of the FDCPA. In Melillo v. Shendell & Assocs., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9248 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 26, 2012), the plaintiff recieved a collection letter from a law firm representing his condominium association. Plaintiff alleged in his Complaint that the collection letter failed to state a clear amount of the debt owed because it referred to different amounts. The Court applied the objective "least sophisticated consumer" standard to the collection letter. In denying defendant’s motion to dismiss, the Court stated that in reading the complaint in the light most favorable to plaintiff, to the extent that the parties dispute factual issues regarding whether the collection letter was actually confusing will ultimately be for the jury to decide at trial.
For more information about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or, its state law counterpart, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, visit us at:
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