Texas Court Holds FDCPA Requires Snail Mail

A debt collector runs afoul of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) if it fails to mail its response to a consumer's request for verification of debt, ruled a Texas federal judge in Ghanta v. Immediate Credit Recoveries, Inc.

In Ghanta, a consumer received an initial correspondence from a debt collector for tuition expenses, and disputed the debt by email. The consumer also sent a request for debt verification to the defendant debt collector through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) online portal. The defendant failed to respond to the email dispute, but uploaded a letter addressed to the CFPB through its portal, indicating that the plaintiff consumer "does in fact owe the balance" and "is responsible for th[e] bill."