A creditor can be exposed to liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act where it indicates that a law firm has been retained to collect its debts, but the law firm makes no genuine effort to collect those debts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held Wednesday.

A divided circuit panel held that liability can attach under the act’s “false name” exception to creditor immunity in the case of Mazzel v. The Money Store, 11-4525-cv.