David Schultz Analyzes in ARM Compliance Digest: Class Action Accuses Collector of Violating FDCPA via Text Message

In the June 27, 2022 edition of the ARM Compliance Digest, Hinshaw partner David Schultz discusses a class-action filed in federal court in North Carolina that accused a collector of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending a text message to a consumer that created "a false sense of urgency" because of how it was worded, and for not identifying itself as a debt collector when it was contacted by the plaintiff:

When I first heard of a new FDCPA complaint filed over a text I thought it must involve Regulation F issues. It does not. There is no reference to the new rules. However, Rivera v Capital Link Management packs a lot of issues in it. One class count is over the text and how it lacks numerous items one might expect in a collection communication (for instance, Evory settlement safe harbor and a reference to “debt collector”). The other count is over comments made in a collection call (for instance, about a “mediation” service and “legal documents”).

This is only a complaint. I had to remind myself of that a few times. The defendant likely has explanations and we’ll follow it to see what they are. In the least, the pleading highlights one of the risks of texts: how do you format the communication to cover needed content? That is a discussion that goes well beyond this short blurb.

Read the full June 27, 2022 edition of the AccountsRecovery.net Compliance Digest.

"Class Action Accuses Collector of Violating FDCPA via Text Message," ARM Compliance Digest, June 27, 2022