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By Caren D. Enloe
When does
the statute of limitations begin to run for a letter that runs afoul of the
FDCPA? That is the issue which was
presented in a recent case before the Eastern District of New York. In Gil
v. Allied Interstate, LLC, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182824 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 3,
2017), the consumers filed suit June 5, 2017 seeking damages under 15 U.S.C. §1692g
for a letter dated June 1, 2016. The
defendant contended that the claims were time barred under the FDCPA’s one year
statute of limitations and argued that the violation occurred on the date the
letter was sent and that that letter was send on June 1, 2016. The plaintiff, on the other hand, contended
that the statute began to run on the date the letter was received.
The court
agreed with the plaintiff and ruled that the one year statute of limitations
begins to run on the date that the consumer receives the debt collection
letter. In doing so, the court noted
that additional facts might have rendered a different result. First, the court noted that the complaint did
not include the date the letter was received.
Secondly, and more importantly for the defense, the defendant didn’t provide
any indicia as to when the letter was mailed.
Had there been evidence that the person who mailed the letter followed “regular
office practice and procedure” or had actual knowledge of having mailed the
document, the presumption that a mailed document is received three days after
the date on which it was sent might have rendered the claims time barred. Id. at *9-10.
