Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because of “abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors.” Among other things, it seeks to make third-party debt collectors provide consumer debtors with information that is clear and unambiguous. This class action brings suit against FMA Alliance, Ltd., alleging it sent consumers a debt collection letter that was unclear about where to send any dispute of the debt that was being collected.
The class for this action is
- All individuals with New York addresses
- To whom FMA Alliance, Ltd. sent a collection letter
- That told the recipient to send its dispute to multiple, contradictory addresses
- Without properly identifying the correct address to which to send a dispute, and
- Where the letter was sent between December 27, 2020 and January 17, 2022.
The plaintiff in this case, Tzvi Linkenberg, allegedly incurred a debt to M and T Bank for personal, family, or household purposes. At some point, M and T assigned the debt to FMA Alliance for collection.
On or around November 5, 2021, FMA sent Linkenberg a letter attempting to collect the debt.
One of the things that must be included in a letter attempting to collect a consumer debt is a notice of the consumer’s right to dispute the debt or any part of it. While the FMA letter did provide that notice, it told Linkenberg to send disputes to FMA’s “office,” “without any clarification as to a specific location.”
Within the letter, three different addresses were given. The address at the top of the letter was 12339 Cutten Road, Houston, TX 77066. The bottom of the letter provided two other addresses, FMA Alliance, Ltd., PO Box 2409, Houston TX 77252-2409, and Dept 287 7714210621114, PO Box 4115, Concord, CA 94524.
The complaint alleges, “Upon information and belief, disputes sent to one or more of these addresses will not be honored by” FMA. Because of that, the complaint claims, “[l]isting these incorrect addresses misled [Linkenberg] into believing a proper dispute can be sent there.”
The complaint claims that these violations of the FDCPA “were knowing, willful, negligent and/or intentional” and caused harm to Linkenberg “because the FDCPA provides [Linkenberg] with the legally protected right not to be misled or treated unfairly with respect to any action regarding the collection of any consumer debt.”
The complaint cites §§ 1692e and 1692f, forbidding any “false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means” or “unfair or unconscionable means” in connection with collecting a debt; and § 1692g specifying that the consumer must be informed of the right and means of disputing the debt.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Loans
Most Recent Case Event
FMA Alliance Multiple Addresses for Debt Dispute Complaint
December 27, 2021
Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because of “abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors.” Among other things, it seeks to make third-party debt collectors provide consumer debtors with information that is clear and unambiguous. This class action brings suit against FMA Alliance, Ltd., alleging it sent consumers a debt collection letter that was unclear about where to send any dispute of the debt that was being collected.
FMA Alliance Multiple Addresses for Debt Dispute ComplaintCase Event History
FMA Alliance Multiple Addresses for Debt Dispute Complaint
December 27, 2021
Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because of “abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors.” Among other things, it seeks to make third-party debt collectors provide consumer debtors with information that is clear and unambiguous. This class action brings suit against FMA Alliance, Ltd., alleging it sent consumers a debt collection letter that was unclear about where to send any dispute of the debt that was being collected.
FMA Alliance Multiple Addresses for Debt Dispute Complaint