Judge Certifies Class Action in FDCPA Letter Case

A District Court judge in California has certified a class-action lawsuit against a collection agency accused of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act via a collection letter that allegedly did not properly identify the current creditor to whom the debt was owed.

There are 281 members of the class, which represents those who received the letter in question and live in Kern County, California. The letter included the subject line, RE: MERCURY CASUALTY INSURANCE, but did not indicate whether Mercury Casualty Insurance was the current creditor or whether the letter was an attempt to collect a debt owed to Mercury Casualty Insurance.

The plaintiffs allege the letter violates Section 1692g(a)(2) of the FDCPA and Section 1788 of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in California.

The judge in this case ruled that the class should be certified and a potential violation of the FDCPA existed, even though the bottom of the collection letter indicated that a payment could be made by going to www.mercuryinsurance.com.

The parties had previously reached a settlement in this case, which was denied by the judge for not being “fair, adequate, and reasonable,” and this motion marked the second attempt by the plaintiffs to have the class certified.

A copy of the ruling in the case of Brown v. Jonathan Neil & Associates can be accessed by clicking here.