On April 21, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case of Hunstein vs. Preferred Collection and Management Services. The Court found that the debt collector’s use of a third-party mail vendor violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This ruling resulted in an increase in lawsuits against debt collectors (third-party agencies) and raised similar compliance concerns for creditors under the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act. A copy of our original summary of this Court opinion can be found here.

On Wednesday, November 17, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order vacating the previous decision. Additionally, the Court issued an order to rehear the case before the full Court panel. The original case was heard before a panel of three judges. Now the case will go before the full panel of judges. The rehearing date has not been set.

The effect of the Court’s action is that the prior opinion of the court is no longer valid and does not have authority over lower courts. We will continue to monitor this matter and will provide updates as this case moves forward.