Yesterday, U.S. District Court (Eastern District of New York) Judge Dora Irizarry ruled against Financial Recovery Systems in their motion to dismiss the pending class action lawsuit, Rozier v. Financial Recovery Systems. The case can therefore move forward.

The class action suit revolves around a letter received by William Rozier (and, presumably, a number of other consumers) that stated in part:

As of the date of this letter, you owe $2397.23. Interest, late charges, and other charges may or may not be applicable to this account. If some or all of these are applicable, they may vary from day to day and thus the amount due on the day you pay may be greater. Hence, if you pay the amount shown above, an adjustment may be necessary after we receive your check, in which even we will inform you before depositing the check for collection. For further information, write the undersigned or call 1-866-211-0386.

Our case asserts that the letter violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by falsely representing the “character, amount or legal status of any debt.” We also assert that Financial Recovery Systems violated New York General Business Law that prohibits misleading consumers.

In her decision, Judge Irizarry noted, “…the language at issue in the collection letter makes it unclear to any consumer, sophisticated or not, the amount of debt due including what, if any, additional charges will apply to the amount stated in the collection letter.” She went on to say that the notice strayed from the “safe harbor” language found in the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Miller v. McCalla, and that the court respectfully disagreed with another court’s decision in Brill v. Financial Recovery Services.

Needless to say, we’re thrilled with the decision and look forward to the next phase of the class action.