The coalition argues the 11th Circuit’s decision puts vendor services for the debt collection industry at risk. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
5/27/2021 18:00
A vendor coalition including 12 independent businesses filed an amicus brief in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services Inc. stating the vendors “share an interest in preserving a debt collector’s ability to act through an agency to produce and deliver important correspondence to consumers.”
The amici, represented by counsel for Amici Curiae John Bedard Jr. and Michael K. Chapman, Bedard Law Group, P.C., are leaders in the letter, data, and print processing industry which produce and deliver more than 2.7 billion unique pieces of physical mail to consumers annually. The coalition members serve a wide range of business sectors of the American economy including the financial, banking, health care, insurance, education, hospitality, telecommunications, utility, manufacturing, legal, entertainment, accounts receivable, marketing, and public sectors.
On April 21, the 11th Circuit issued an opinion in Hunstein holding that an alleged violation of the third-party disclosure provision under 15 U.S.C. Section 1692c(b) results in an alleged concrete injury under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, ACA International previously reported. The Hunstein court came to this unfortunate decision on the standing aspect of the case even though there was no actual or tangible harm.
“The panel decision threatens to eliminate the print and mail industry for debt collectors. The consequences of this decision are far reaching, imposing significant harm on industry and consumers. Consumers rely on written correspondence from debt collectors about their credit transactions, repayment obligations, consumer rights, and important credit reporting consequences. Without print and mail vendors to deliver this information timely and accurately, tens of millions of consumers will suffer the very harm the FDCPA was intended to prevent,” the coalition’s amicus brief states.
Preferred Collection and Management Services Inc., defendant-appellee in the Hunstein case, filed a petition for rehearing and for rehearing en banc, asking that the 11th Circuit grant a “panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of the panel’s decision issued on April 21, 2021.”
In the petition, Preferred’s counsel—ACA Board Member Richard Perr, co-managing partner of Kaufman Dolowich and Voluck LLP, and Robert Vigh of Solomon, Vigh and Springer—argue that the April 21 panel opinion departed from U.S. Supreme Court and 11th Circuit precedent on the issue of Article III standing and specifically on whether an alleged statutory violation of 15 U.S.C. Section 1692c(b) constitutes a “concrete injury.”
ACA and appellate attorney Shay Dvoretzky of Skadden Arps, ACA’s amicus counsel, are also working on an amicus brief in Hunstein before the June 1 deadline.
ACA is continuing to monitor copycat cases and provide updates for members on the Hunstein Resource Center. Resources include a primer on the case, the case status, an interactive case tracker map from WebRecon and information on how to respond to lawsuits.