UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
20580
Bureau of Consumer Protection
March 20, 1998
Mr. Walter D. LeVine, P.A.
23 Vreeland Road
Suite 102
Florham Park, New Jersey 07932
Dear Mr. LeVine:
Reference is made to your letter of December 24, 1997, concerning
a "Telewire Electronic Message" sent by your client,
a telecommunications company, to consumer-debtors. The facts are
as stated in your letter and our letter of February 7, 1989 to
which you refer. The question is whether your client is covered
by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (copy enclosed).
In order for a service provided by your client to fall within
the scope of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, your client
must be covered, i.e., it must be a "debt collector"
under Section 803(6). That Section defines a "debt collector"
as someone who "... regularly collects or attempts to collect,
directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted
to be owed or due another" (emphasis mine). As part of your
client's additional service to debt collection agencies or credit
providers, it proposes to sent a message to alleged debtors. The
purpose of the message is two-fold: first, to alert recipients
of the letter to a 'telegram marked for voice delivery" left
in their names at an 800 number, and second, to obtain recipients'
telephone numbers so that they can be contacted by a creditor
or collector in connection with the collection of debts allegedly
owed by them to third parties. To the extent that the letter serves
a collection function (albeit an indirect collection function),
which we believe it does, this additional service brings your
client within the coverage of the FDCPA.
Since your client would be covered by the Act, its collection
communications would have to comply with the Act. Among other
things, this means that the letter referred to above must disclose
that your client is attempting to collect a debt and any information
obtained will be used for that purpose, in accordance with Section
807(11) of the FDCPA. The notice required by Section 809 of the
FDCPA would also have to be sent, if the letter is the initial
communication with the consumer regarding collection of the debt.
I hope this responds to your inquiry.
Sincerely,
John F. LeFevre
Attorney
Enclosure
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