Debt Collector Escapes FDCPA Liability With Clear Validation Notice

On May 2, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted a debt collector's motion to dismiss a putative class action brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, holding the validation notice in the collection letter was not overshadowed or contradicted by other language in the letter.

The case is Reizner v. National Recoveries, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-2572 (D.N.J. May 2, 2018).  A copy of the opinion can be found here.

Plaintiff Alex Reizner incurred a $96,601.75 debt with the U.S. Department of Education.  The DOE assigned the debt to National Recoveries, Inc. on March 28, 2017.  That day, NRI mailed a collection letter to Reizner notifying him that it was collecting on his debt to the DOE.  In the second paragraph, in bold font, NRI included the following validation notice: