Wording of Debt-Collection Letters 'Could' Bring Problems for Lawyers

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

Debt collectors need to be on the lookout for small words used in dunning letters, an appeals court has ruled.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a decision in the case of Brown v. Card Service Center that casts aspersions on the use of the word ?could,? according to a story in the Legal Intelligencer Friday. At issue are statements made in the letter which the debtor claims are deceptive because it told her that unless she made arrangements to pay within five days, the matter “could” result in referral of the account to an attorney and “could” result in “a legal suit being filed.?

A lower court had already dismissed the lawsuit, commenting that “the letter neither states nor implies that legal action is imminent, only that it is possible.”

But the case was revived in the appeals process and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, stationed in Philadelphia, agreed with the debtor.