District Court: No FDCPA violation when letter contains safe harbor language

Courts Debt Collection FDCPA Safe Harbor

On May 1, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted a debt collector’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a suit concerning alleged FDCPA violations. In 2018, the plaintiff filed a putative class action against the defendant contending the debt collection letter he received omitted debt amount information and failed to provide any information about the accruing interests and charges. In its motion, the defendant argued that the letter did not violate the FDCPA because it provided the minimum amount due, current balance, and safe harbor language approved by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Avila v. Riexinger & Associates LLC. In that opinion, the 2nd Circuit held that “a debt collector will not be subject to liability under section 1692e for failing to disclose that the consumer’s balance may increase due to interest and fees if the collection notice . . . accurately informs the consumer that the amount of the debt stated in the letter will increase over time.” The district court agreed and ruled that because the defendant’s letter informed plaintiff of “the total, present quantity of money due” as of the date of the letter and contained the safe harbor language, the plaintiff failed to plead that the letter violated the FDCPA.