A Letter To A Debtor

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with the district court that a lawyer’s letter to a debtor did not create a cause of action.

The court rejected the claim that the letter was deceptive and/or violated consumer protection statutes

Jones’s argument focuses on § 1692e(3) and (5) of the federal act, which deal with attorney involvement and threats of legal action. In passing, she invokes several other sections containing general prohibitions against deception, unfairness, and false representations in connection with debt collection. She offers no separate arguments in support of these claims. Instead, she simply says that because the letter falsely implied than an attorney was involved and threatened legal action, the letter was a fortiori deceptive and unfair in a general sense. We have held that the letter did not contain any such false implications or threats, so we reject the remainder of her arguments under the federal act.

District of Columbia law also did not provide a basis for relief.

The letter

Dear [plaintiff] TAWANDA JONES,

This office has been retained to collect the debt owed by you to CACH, LLC.

As of the date of this letter you owe the sum of $1,050.29. Because of interest, late charges and other charges that may vary from day to day the amount due on the day you pay may be greater.

You are hereby advised: Unless you, the consumer, notify this office within thirty days after receipt of this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by this office. If you, the consumer, notify this office in writing within thirty days after receipt of this notice, that the debt or any portion thereof is disputed, this office will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against you and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to you by this office. Upon your written request within thirty days after receipt of this notice this office will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

Please remit your payment to: David Sean Dufek

[Address]

If you would like to make a payment online, please visit our website: [website URL]

Please call our office. The toll free number is  

[telephone number].

Sincerely,

[Signature]

Attorney David Sean Dufek

Please be advised that we are acting in our capacity as a debt collector and at this time, no attorney with our law firm has personally reviewed the particular circumstances of your account. Be advised this is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

The disclaimer

We do not mean to imply that a disclaimer must be in the same font and size as the body of the letter, but the fact that it was in this case further indicates that this disclaimer was not hidden.

(Mike Frisch)