Statutory Interpretation

By: Derek Hawkins//March 4, 2019//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Diane Rhone v. Medical Business Bureau, LLC

Case No.: 17-3408

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statutory Interpretation

This case is about character— the character of a debt. A debt collector must not make any “false representation” about “the character, amount, or legal status of any debt”. 15 U.S.C. §1692e(2)(A). A district court concluded that a debt collector misrepresented a debt’s “character” by reporting to a credit bureau that the debtor had nine unpaid bills of $60 rather than one of $540. We hold, to the contrary, that arithmetic does not affect a debt’s “character.” The statutory word “amount” rather than the word “character” is what governs reporting the debt’s size.

Medical Business Bureau did not misstate the “character” of Rhone’s debt to the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, so the judgment of the district court is reversed.

Reversed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.

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