Florida Attorneys Prevail in Consumer Collection Practices Act Arbitration

Fort Lauderdale Partner Geralyn M. Passaro and Attorney Javiera B. Sundar recently prevailed on behalf of our credit union client at the American Arbitration Association in Miami, Florida, for their case involving alleged violations of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act.

In October 2022, Claimant stated they received an email from our credit union client, and later alleged that our client violated Section 559.72(17) of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA). The FCCPA provides that entities that are in the process of collecting consumer debts shall not “[c]ommunicate with the debtor between the hours of 9 pm and 8 am in the debtor’s time zone without the prior consent of the debtor.” Our client denied that the email they sent that was delivered to Claimant at 5:03:51 am had any mention of debt collection. Nonetheless, Claimant filed suit asserting that they are entitled to statutory damages, as well as attorney’s fees and costs from our client.

At trial, our defense team of Geralyn Passaro and Javiera Sundar contended that our client’s email communication did not mention the collection of a debt. Instead, the message was informational in character and routinely expected by consumers to serve as a reminder of upcoming bill payment due dates. Our Defense also showed that Claimant provided no evidence of having received, or otherwise being made aware of our client’s email during the prohibited hours; therefore, our client did not violate the FCCPA.

In August 2024, Claimant’s request for relief and damages were denied in its entirety, and the arbitrator ruled in favor our client.

Geralyn Passaro handles commercial and complex business litigation with an emphasis on representation of agents and brokers, directors and officers, lawyers and other professionals in liability and community association matters.

Javiera Sundar concentrates her practice in the area of general liability.