Focus Financial Services Hit with Consumer’s FDCPA Class Action

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A Florida resident has filed a proposed class action against Palm Beach Credit Adjustors, known more commonly as Focus Financial Services, over suspected violations of federal debt collection law. The plaintiff’s allegations center on a November 2017 demand letter the defendant sent in an attempt to collect a medical debt. This communication, the complaint says, noted “Bethesda Hospital West” as the entity to which the plaintiff’s debt is owed. The lawsuit then says a statement the plaintiff received the previous month from Bethesda Health, however, called for payment to be made to an entity called “Carepayment.”

 The complaint then claims the defendant’s November 2017 demand letter falsely and misleadingly pronounced the plaintiff’s debt verification rights, with the following language drawing particular attention:

If you notify this office in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice, this office will: obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgment and mail you a copy of such judgment or verification.”

The case argues the above statement is subject to more than one interpretation, as it does not inform the plaintiff of “what they need to do to notify [the defendant’s] office of, i.e. that they need to dispute the debt or any portion thereof, as opposed to, for example, writing to notify the defendant that the consumer cannot afford to make any payment on the debt.”