Echlin v. PeaceHealth, No. 15-35324 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseEchlin received treatment at PeaceHealth but ignored multiple requests for payment. PeaceHealth referred her accounts to CCI, a purported collection agency. Under a 2004 agreement, for a fixed fee, CCI performed services related to debt-collection and PeaceHealth would suspend its in-house collection efforts. CCI independently screened each account for potential collection problems. Although PeaceHealth was generally aware of the standard format of CCI’s letters, CCI alone controlled their content without PeaceHealth’s approval. The letters were written on CCI letterhead, mailed from CCI’s in-house mailing center, and listed CCI’s contact information (PeaceHealth’s information was labeled “Creditor Detail”). The letters directed debtors to a CCI website. CCI handled correspondence from PeaceHealth debtors.CCI had no ability to process or negotiate payments but forwarded to PeaceHealth any payments it received. After two letters, accounts were returned to PeaceHealth. CCI did not participate in subsequent collection steps. Echlin filed a putative class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692e, 1692j. The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendants. CCI did not engage in “flat-rating,” in which a third party sends a delinquency letter to a debtor, portraying itself as a debt collector, when it actually has no real involvement in the debt collection effort. CCI meaningfully participated in PeaceHealth’s debt-collection efforts, screening the accounts, independently composing and mailing letters, responding to customer questions, and maintaining a website that allowed customers to access individualized information.
Court Description: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants in an action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The panel held that the plaintiff did not establish flat- rating, a practice in which a third party sends a delinquency letter to a debtor, portraying itself as a debt collector, when in fact it has no real involvement in the creditor’s debt collection effort, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1682j. The panel concluded that the record supported the district court’s finding that defendant Computer Credit, Inc., meaningfully participated in defendant PeaceHealth’s debt-collection efforts, and thus did not engage in flat-rating, when its services included screening referred debtors for barriers to collection, independently composing and mailing collection letters, inviting and responding to customer questions on a variety of details about the collection process, and maintaining a website that allowed customers to access individualized information about their debts and to submit electronic files to the company. The panel held that the district court properly struck a claim of threatening action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken under § 1692e(5) because the complaint did not allege such a claim, and any amendment to ECHLIN V PEACEHEALTH 3 add the claim would be time-barred. The panel concluded that any claim under § 1692e(10) was waived.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.