Opinion ID: 2680617
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Estimates

Text: McLaughlin argues that the failure to accurately set forth the amount due as of May 18, 2010 constitutes a misrepresentation actionable under § 1692e(2) and (10) and the order dismissing these claims should be reversed. These subsections prohibit “[t]he false representation of” either “the character, amount, or legal status of any debt” or “any services rendered or compensation which may lawfully be received by any debt collector for the collection of a debt,” 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2), as well as “[t]he use of any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer,” 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10). Each of these provisions deals with debt collectors’ representations to debtors. We analyze such communications “from the perspective of the least sophisticated debtor.” Rosenau v. Unifund Corp., 539 F.3d 218, 221 (3d Cir. 2008); Brown v. Card Serv. Ctr., 464 F.3d 450, 454 (3d Cir. 2006). This low standard “effectuate[s] the basic purpose of the FDCPA: to protect all consumers, the gullible as well as the 8 shrewd.” Rosenau, 539 F.3d at 221 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). PHS contends that the Letter did not violate the FDCPA because it contained estimates of the amount owed. This characterization is inconsistent with the unequivocal language of the Letter. The Letter says that it sets forth “[t]he amount of the debt as of 05/18/2010.” App. 73. The only message this conveys to the reader is the amount owed on a specific date. Nothing says it is an estimate or in any way suggests that it was not a precise amount. As the drafter of the Letter, PHS is responsible for its content and for what the least sophisticated debtor would have understood from it. See Glover v. FDIC, 698 F.3d 139, 149 (3d Cir. 2012) (“The language of [§ 1692e(2)(A)] creates a straightforward, objective standard. Nothing suggests that an allowance is to be made for a defendant’s lack of knowledge or intent.”). If PHS wanted to convey that the amounts in the Letter were estimates, then it could have said so. It did not. Instead, its language informs the reader of the specific amounts due for specific items as of a particular date. If the amount actually owed as of that date was less than the amount listed, then, construing the facts in the light most favorable to McLaughlin as we must when reviewing the dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), Phillips, 515 F.3d at 233, McLaughlin has stated a claim that the Letter misrepresents the amount of the debt in violation of § 1692e(2) and (10).