A Maryland federal district court recently held that a debt collector's voice message, which was similar to the ACA's suggested voice message, did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The collection agency left a voice message for the consumer at her father's residence. The consumer claimed she didn't live with her father, and that the message violated the FDCPA because the message constituted a third party disclosure. The court dismissed the claim, because the message included a disclaimer telling individuals other than the consumer to discontinue listening. The court reasoned that the message gave third parties ample opportunity to delete or ignore the message, and that the message was specifically directed to the consumer )Collier v Professional Bureau of Collections, Case No. GLR-12-860, 2012 WL 3745720 (D. Md. Aug 28, 2012)).

Leaving messages for consumer debtors is risky, but this is a nice win for agencies who choose to leave messages similar to ACA's suggested voice message.