Opinion
Case Number: 10-20253-CIV-MORENO.
May 4, 2010
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS
THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon the Defendant's motion to dismiss.
THE COURT has considered the motion and the pertinent portions of the record, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.
This is a one-count action for relief under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). It stems from the Plaintiffs receipt of a collection letter from "LCA COLLECTIONS, A Division of Laboratory Corporation of America." The Defendant, Laboratory Corporation of America, is the creditor. The Plaintiff claims that the Defendant violated the FDCPA because it attempted to collect a debt using a name other than its own.
The Defendant argues that this action must be dismissed because it fails to allege a violation of the FDCPA as a matter of law. Specifically, the Defendant argues that the letter it sent from "LCA COLLECTIONS, A Division of Laboratory Corporation of America" could not have violated the FDCPA because, as the Federal trade Commission Statements of General Policy or Interpretation Staff Commentary on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes clear, a creditor is not a debt collector if the creditor's correspondence is clearly labeled as being from the collection unit of the creditor since the creditor is not using a name other than his own in that instance. See 53 FR 500097-2. The Court agrees. Because the correspondence on which the Plaintiff bases his claim indicated that it was sent from a collections division of Laboratory Corporation of America, the claim fails as a matter of law because the Defendant was not a "debt collector." Accordingly, it is
ADJUDGED that the motion to dismiss is GRANTED. It is further
ADJUDGED that this action is DISMISSED with prejudice.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida.