Defeating Credit Repair Organizations – Recent Win in FL Case Highlights Successful Strategies

In a clear rebuke of a credit repair organization’s tactics, a judge in the Middle District of Florida said the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) cannot be weaponized against a debt collector for declining to participate in a scam. The “scam” in this case was a letter sent to the debt collector by the credit repair organization, Credit Repair Lawyers of America (CRLA). 

In Dukes v. LVNV Funding, Case Number 21-cv-1342 (M.D. FL 2022), a consumer engaged a credit repair organization for 80$ per month to try to “straighten out” her credit so she could apply for a mortgage. On March 5, 2019, she disputed her LVNV account. The letter appeared to bear her signature. At some point in 2019, the consumer engaged CRLA (it is unclear whether CRLA was engaged before or after the March 5th letter). 

Over two years later, on May 28, 2021, CRLA drafted and sent a letter to LVNV stating the consumer no longer disputed the account, so LVNV should remove the dispute mark from her credit report. The letter was signed electronically by an out-of-state attorney.