By:  Diana M. Eng and Paul Messina, Jr.

In Stacey Hart v. Credit Control, LLC, No. 16-17126 (11th Cir. Sept. 22, 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit clarified two significant definitions under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), one of which was a novel issue for the Court.  First, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the first voicemail that Credit Control LLC (“Credit Control”) left for Stacey Hart (“Hart”) qualified as a “communication” within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(2).  Because the voicemail was the initial communication between the parties, Credit Control had to provide the required disclosures under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(11), commonly known as the “mini Miranda” warning.

Second, the Eleventh Circuit determined the novel issue of what constitutes a “meaningful disclosure” under the FDCPA by ruling that an individual caller is not required to disclose his/her identity as long the caller discloses that the call is being made on behalf of a debt collection company and the debtor collection company’s name.

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