Coulter ex rel. Situated v. Receivables Mgmt. Sys.
Coulter ex rel. Situated v. Receivables Mgmt. Sys.
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff Joshua Coulter brings this putative class action against Defendant Io, Inc. t/d/b/a Receivables Management Systems (RMS) (misidentified in the Complaint as "Receivables Management Systems"), alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C §§ 1692 - 1692p. Coulter's claims stem from a debt collection letter he received from RMS. Coulter alleges the collection letter violated two provisions of the FDCPA-§ 1692e and § 1692g-because it misleadingly suggested he could dispute the debt RMS was seeking to collect by calling RMS when, in fact, a dispute must be in writing to be effective under the FDCPA. Coulter and RMS have filed *310cross-motions for summary judgment limited to the issue of RMS's liability to Coulter-i.e., whether the debt collection letter violated the FDCPA. Because the Court agrees with Coulter that the collection letter violated the FDCPA as a matter of law under Caprio v. Healthcare Revenue Recovery Group, LLC ,
FACTS
On January 13, 2016, Coulter sought and received medical treatment at a Patient First urgent care center in or near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Coulter was a 25-year-old university student at the time of the visit and was covered under his father's insurance policy. In June 2016, Coulter received an invoice from Patient First at his parents' address requesting payment of $71.97 for the January visit. Coulter did not pay the invoice, believing his insurance company should have covered the fee. Coulter received additional invoices from Patient First at his parents' address in July and August 2016, which he also did not pay.
On September 7, 2016, Patient First contacted RMS, a company in the business of collecting debts owed to third parties, and requested RMS's assistance in collecting the unpaid debt from Coulter. The following day, RMS mailed a one-page collection letter (the "Collection Letter") to Coulter, stating:
COLLECTION NOTICE
Your delinquent account with Patient First has been placed with RMS for immediate attention.
Our records indicate that despite our client's numerous requests for payment you have allowed your account to become seriously PAST DUE. Your payment of this balance, however, will allow us to cease further collection action against you.
If you feel that this balance may be due from your insurance carrier please contact your carrier prior to contacting the representative at the extension listed below.
Our Collection Representatives are available to work with you between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mail your payment or call today.
Collection Representative: Phil Irvin
Extension 3141
Federal Law requires us to inform you that:
Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid. If you notify this office in writing within 30 days from receiving this notice, this office will: obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgment and mail you a copy of such judgement or verification.
Decl. of Ari H. Marcus, Esq. in Supp. of Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. (hereinafter, "Marcus Summ. J. Decl.") Ex. A. A P.O. Box address for RMS was printed at the bottom of the Collection Letter, and two telephone numbers for RMS were listed below the P.O. Box address in large boldface type. The foregoing Collection Letter was the first communication Coulter received from RMS.
*311On September 5, 2017, Coulter filed suit against RMS, alleging the Collection Letter violated 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e and 1692g because by directing Coulter to call an RMS representative if he believed the debt was due from his insurer, the Letter incorrectly suggested that Coulter could dispute the debt by calling when written notice of a dispute is required. Coulter seeks to pursue this action on behalf of a class consisting of individuals in Chester County, Pennsylvania, to whom RMS sent a debt collection letter containing the statement, "[i]f you feel that this balance may be due from your insurance carrier please contact your carrier prior to contacting the representative at the extension listed below." Compl. ¶ 14.
Following a Rule 16 conference on December 11, 2017, the Court entered a scheduling order which directed the parties to conduct fact discovery on the issue of RMS's liability to Coulter under the FDCPA and to file cross-motions for summary judgment on liability at the close of discovery. Those motions have been fully briefed, and oral argument was held on October 30, 2018.
DISCUSSION
A motion for summary judgment shall be granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Material facts are those facts "that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
The same standards apply when addressing cross-motions for summary judgment. See Lawrence v. City of Phila. ,
"Congress enacted the FDCPA in 1977 ... to eliminate abusive debt collection practices, to ensure that debt collectors who abstain from such practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent state action to protect consumers." Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA ,
Coulter principally alleges the Collection Letter violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692g,
(1) the amount of the debt;
(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;
(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;
(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and
(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.
15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a)(1)-(5). The information in subparagraphs (3) - (5) of § 1692g(a) is referred to as the "validation notice," i.e., "the statements that inform the consumer how to obtain verification of the debt and that he has thirty days in which to do so." Wilson v. Quadramed Corp. ,
Even when a debt collection letter includes the statutorily required validation notice, the letter may nevertheless violate § 1692g if it fails to effectively communicate the required notice to the consumer. Wilson ,
In determining whether a validation notice is contradicted or overshadowed, the court "must interpret the [collection letter] from the perspective of [the] 'least sophisticated debtor.' " Id. at 151. "[T]he least sophisticated debtor standard is lower than simply examining whether particular language would deceive or mislead a reasonable debtor," as the purpose of the standard "is to ensure that the FDCPA protects all consumers, the gullible as well as the shrewd." Id. at 149 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Although the least sophisticated debtor standard "is less demanding than one that inquires whether a particular communication would mislead or deceive a reasonable debtor," Campuzano-Burgos v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc. ,
Coulter does not dispute that the Collection Letter in this case included the statutorily required validation notice in the final paragraph of the Letter, under the heading "Federal Law requires us to inform you that." Rather, Coulter argues the Collection Letter violated § 1692g because the validation notice was overshadowed and contradicted by other language in the Letter. Specifically, Coulter points to the Letter's third and fourth paragraphs, which advise the consumer:
If you feel that this balance may be due from your insurance carrier, please contact your carrier prior to contacting the representative at the extension listed below.
Our Collection Representatives are available to work with you between the *314hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mail your payment or call today.
Marcus Summ. J. Decl. Ex. A. Coulter argues the least sophisticated debtor could reasonably understand these provisions to suggest that calling RMS was an effective way to raise an insurance-related dispute regarding the debt, even though a dispute must be in writing to be effective under the FDCPA. See Pl.'s Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. 7-14. RMS denies that these provisions can reasonably be read as offering the consumer an alternative way to dispute the debt, noting, inter alia, that neither provision makes any reference to "disputing" a debt, a subject that is instead addressed only the in the validation notice at the bottom of the Letter. According to RMS, the provisions cited by Coulter, when read in the order presented in the Collection Letter,
merely state that, if the debt is valid (i.e. , "... the balance may be due ...") but should be paid by [the consumer's] health insurance carrier (i.e. , "... from your insurance carrier, ..."), then the debtor should "please contact your carrier prior to contacting the representative at the extension listed below" for purposes of making payment on the debt (i.e. , "Mail your payment or call today. Collection Representative: Phil Irvin Extension 3141").
Def.'s Opp'n to Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. 5.
In evaluating the parties' positions, the Court's analysis begins with Caprio v. Healthcare Revenue Recovery Group, LLC , which Coulter argues is controlling here. Like this case, Caprio involved a debt collection letter seeking to collect a medical debt. The body of the letter included the statement, "[i]f we can answer any questions, or if you feel you do not owe this amount, please call us toll free at 800-984-9115 or write us at the above address," and directed the debtor to "SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION." Caprio ,
Although acknowledging the letter "did not expressly state that a telephone call would be sufficient to dispute the debt" and that the " 'please call' language could be read as nothing more than a mere invitation [to communicate]," the court stressed that the question before it was not "whether the debtor or the debt collector offer[ed] 'a more appropriate reading' of [the] debt collection letter," but how the letter would be understood by the least sophisticated debtor.
*315could dispute the debt by making a telephone call."
Following Caprio , a panel of the Third Circuit found a validation notice in a debt collector's initial collection letter was overshadowed and contradicted by a second collection letter, which advised the consumer, "SHOULD THERE BE ANY DISCREPANCY PLEASE CALL TOLL FREE 800-253-2920 OR FOR OUR 24 HOUR AUTOMATED CUSTOMER SERVICE CALL 800-354-4744." Laniado v. Certified Credit & Collection Bureau ,
Although the issue is a close one, this Court agrees with Coulter that, under Caprio , the Collection Letter in this case violated § 1692g because the least *316sophisticated debtor could reasonably understand the Letter to instruct the consumer to raise insurance-related disputes regarding the debt by calling RMS. While RMS's alternative interpretation of the Letter as merely encouraging the consumer to call RMS to make payment on the debt may be plausible, Caprio made clear that the Court's task in reviewing the Collection Letter is not "to decide whether the debtor or the debt collector offers 'a more appropriate reading' of [the Letter]," but to "interpret the document from the perspective of [the] 'least sophisticated debtor.' "
Viewed from the perspective of the least sophisticated debtor, the phrase "[i]f you feel that this balance may be due from your insurance carrier" can reasonably be understood to reference a dispute regarding the debt. This phrase is the equivalent of the phrase "if you feel you do not owe this amount," which the Caprio court held could reasonably be interpreted to encompass a dispute-a consumer who feels that a debt is owed by his insurance company would necessarily also feel that he personally does not owe the debt. Indeed, at his deposition, RMS's corporate representative conceded that if a consumer were to advise RMS that the consumer did not believe he owed some or all of the balance alleged to be due because insurance should have covered it, RMS would normally consider the debt to be disputed. Marcus Summ J. Decl. Ex. B, at 20-21.
Moreover, it is undisputed that "the extension listed below" referenced in the Collection Letter is a telephone extension and that the Letter thus instructs the consumer to call RMS after first contacting his insurer if he feels the insurer owes the debt. See id. at 22. The message that insurance-related disputes regarding the debt may be raised by telephone is reinforced by the very next paragraph of the Letter, which advises the consumer, "Our Collection Representatives are available to work with you between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mail your payment or call today."
*317In arguing that the Collection Letter cannot reasonably be read to offer the consumer an alternative method of disputing the debt, RMS relies in part on Cruz v. Financial Recoveries , in which a district court within the Third Circuit rejected a similar challenge to a debt collection letter that advised the consumer, "[i]f you have insurance that may pay all or a portion of this debt, that information can be submitted by calling 1-800-220-0260 ." No. 15-0753,
As an initial matter, the Collection Letter in this case is distinguishable from the letters at issue in Cruz and Anela because it does more than merely encourage the consumer to provide information about insurance that may cover the debt by phone. By instructing the consumer to call the debt collector if he believes the debt is due from his insurer, the Letter suggests that if the consumer "seek[s] to dispute the debt because insurance will pay for the debt, [he] can do so by making a phone call to the included number." Cruz ,
Moreover, while the courts in Cruz and Anela found that language advising a consumer to call the debt collector if the consumer carries insurance that may cover the debt does not violate § 1692g, other district courts within the Third Circuit have reached the opposite conclusion. In Morello v. AR Resources, Inc. , for example, the court found a violation of § 1692g based on language virtually identical to the language at issue in Anela. See No. 17-13706,
Because the least sophisticated debtor could reasonably understand the challenged provisions of the Collection Letter to instruct the consumer that an insurance-related dispute regarding the debt could be raised by calling RMS, when, in fact, a dispute of a debt must be in writing to be effective, the Court finds these provisions overshadowed and contradicted the validation notice in the Letter in violation of § 1692g. Summary judgment will therefore be granted in favor of Coulter as to liability on his § 1692g claim.
As noted, Coulter also alleges the Collection Letter in this case violated § 1692e(10), which prohibits a debt collector from using "any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer." 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10). Having found that the Collection Letter violated § 1692g by misleadingly suggesting the consumer could raise an insurance-related dispute regarding the debt by telephone, the Court also finds the Letter violated § 1692e(10). See Caprio ,
For the above stated reasons, Coulter's motion for summary judgment will be *320granted and RMS's motion for summary judgment will be denied.
An appropriate order follows.
On a motion for summary judgment, a court must "view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must make all reasonable inferences in that party's favor." Hugh v. Butler Cty. Family YMCA ,
RMS sent two additional letters to Coulter regarding the debt in October and November 2016. Like the letters from Patient First, the three letters from RMS were sent to Coulter's parents' address in Chester County. Because Coulter was in school in Western Pennsylvania when the letters were sent, it is not clear when he first saw them.
For purposes of the FDCPA, a "consumer" is "any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt," 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(3) ; a "debt" is "any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,"
Coulter also alleges the Collection letter violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10), which prohibits a debt collector from using "any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt." Coulter's § 1692e(10) claim is based on the same provisions of the Collection Letter as his § 1692g claim, and the Court's analysis of the § 1692g claim is dispositive of both claims, as discussed below. Accordingly, the Court's discussion focusses on the § 1692g claim.
In addition to finding that the substance of the collection letter overshadowed and contradicted the validation notice contained therein, the Caprio court found an overshadowing violation based on the form of the letter, which, by selectively using bold and large typeface, emphasized the legally deficient option of contacting the debt collector by telephone over the option of writing, and which relegated the validation notice to the reverse side of letter. See Caprio ,
Although the court in Caprio found that "both the 'substance' as well as the 'form' " of the collection letter at issue overshadowed and contradicted the validation notice,
RMS argues an insurance coverage-related dispute between a consumer and a third-party insurance carrier is not a "dispute" of the underlying debt for purposes of the FDCPA, at least where, as here, the issue is not whether money is owed to a medical provider for services rendered but who, as between the patient and his health insurer, is required to pay for those services. RMS cites no authority in support of this argument. And, contrary to RMS's assertion, courts have recognized that under the FDCPA, a consumer may "dispute" a medical debt on the basis that his insurance company should have paid it. See, e.g. , Leeb v. Nationwide Credit Corp. ,
Viewing the fourth paragraph of the Collection Letter in isolation, RMS argues the "call today" language does not violate § 1692g based on Terran v. Kaplan ,
In Caprio , the Third Circuit distinguished the collection letter at issue in Terran from the one before it, noting, inter alia, that the Caprio letter "did more than merely ask Caprio to call or write if 'we can answer any questions.' It also asked him to 'please call us toll free at 800-984-9115 or write us at the above address' if 'you feel you do not owe this amount.' " Caprio ,
The court in Cruz also cited Szczurek v. Professional Management Inc. , a not precedential opinion in which the Third Circuit considered an FDCPA challenge to a collection letter that advised the consumer, inter alia, "[i]f this debt is for medical services and you have insurance that may pay all or a portion of this debt, that information can be submitted by calling 800[-]220-0260 or by completing the information on the reverse side of this letter and returning the entire letter to this office."
RMS also relies on Watson v. Certified Credit & Collection Bureau , in which another district court within the Third Circuit rejected an FDCPA challenge to a collection letter that advised the consumer, "[i]f you believe that these services should have been covered by your insurance company please call your insurance carrier immediately." No. 09-1433,
The remaining cases cited by RMS are also distinguishable. Jarzyna v. Home Properties, L.P. , involved a debt collection letter that advised the consumer that the creditor was "demanding full payment" of the consumer's past due account, then stated, "[o]ur professional debt collectors are here to help you resolve this matter," provided a telephone number, and listed the forms of payment accepted-"[c]heck by phone, Visa, and Mastercard."
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Joshua COULTER, Individually and Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated v. RECEIVABLES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published