Judge Dora Irizarry
NCOP XI LLC (NCOP) allegedly bought the right to collect Lee’s debt owed to Capital One. Through codefendant Forster & Garbus, NCOP sent Lee a collection letter. The letter’s reference line stated "AMOUNT DUE: $2,812.15" followed by reference and account numbers for the debt and a line reading "RE: NCOP XI, LLC A/P/O CAPITAL ONE." Lee’s putative class suit charged the collection letter’s violation of §§1692e, f, and g of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by failing to identify the current creditor. Opposing dismissal, Lee contended that the letter, for which both NCOP and Foster were responsible, materially failed to identify the creditor. District court denied NCOP and Foster’s dismissal motion in its entirety. Lee plausibly asserted that the collection letter was misleading to the least sophisticated consumer. Listing NCOP on the collection letter’s reference line, particularly when followed by the "unusual" abbreviation "A/P/O/" and the name of the original creditor, easily could have failed to alert the least sophisticated consumer that her debt was now owned by NCOP. Nothing identified the relationship of either NCOP or Capital One to the debt and the collection letter did not explain why those entities appeared in the letter.
