The Third Circuit Limits The "Benign Language" Exception To The FDCPA Without Endorsing It

Among other things, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits a debt collector from using "any language or symbol, other than the debt collector's address, on any envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails." (The debt collector may include, in addition to its address, its business name if the name does not indicate that it is in the business of collecting debts.) Some courts, such as the Fifth and Eighth Circuits, have read into this provision an exception for so-called "benign language," and have allowed debt collectors to include additional phrases on envelopes such as "priority letter," "personal and confidential," or "immediate reply requested."

In a recent Third Circuit case, Douglas v. Convergent Outsourcing, the debtor's account number, while not printed on the envelope, was visible on the letter inside through a window. The court had to decide: (1) whether the account number was "on" the envelope when it was merely visible through