gavelJoining with the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment order in favor of a debt collector and against a debtor finding that the debt collector did not violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by only verifying the information in its records instead of contacting the creditor to verify the debt.

In so ruling, the Court also held that the debt collector did not violate the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) because it conducted a reasonable investigation into the disputed information.

A copy of the opinion in Walton v. EOS CCA is available at: Link to Opinion.

The creditor sent a letter to the debtor advising her that she owed $268.47 on her closed account. The letter included her account number and advised the debtor that if she did not pay the debt, then the debtor may refer the account “to an outside collection agency.”


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