UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________

No. 22-1925 ____________

PAULETTE BARCLIFT, On behalf of herself and others similarly situated, Appellant

v.

KEYSTONE CREDIT SERVICES, LLC ____________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil No. 5-21-cv-04335) District Judge: Honorable Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. ____________

Argued on March 30, 2023

Before: MATEY, FREEMAN, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: February 16, 2024) Jesse S. Johnson [ARGUED] Greenwald Davidson Radbil PLLC 5550 Glades Road, Suite 500 Boca Raton, FL 33431 Eric J. Landes Landes Law, LLC 419 Oaktree Court Sanatoga, PA 19464 Counsel for Appellant Lee J. Janiczek [ARGUED] Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP 550 E Swedesford Road, Suite 270 Wayne, PA 19087 Counsel for Appellee

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OPINION OF THE COURT _______________

FREEMAN, Circuit Judge.

To facilitate its efforts to collect a debt, Keystone Credit Services, LLC (“Keystone”) sent Paulette Barclift’s personal information to a mailing vendor, RevSpring, which then mailed Keystone’s collection notice to Barclift. Barclift did not authorize Keystone’s communications to RevSpring. So she sued Keystone for an unauthorized communication with a

2 third party in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., and she sought to represent a class of similarly situated plaintiffs. The District Court found that Barclift did not allege an injury sufficient to establish standing for purposes of Article III of the United States Constitution and dismissed her suit with prejudice. We agree that Barclift lacks standing, but we will modify the District Court’s order so that the dismissal will be without prejudice.

I

Keystone is a collection agency based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.1 It contracts with RevSpring to print and mail debt collection notices. RevSpring is a nationwide operation with multiple locations and hundreds of employees.

In October 2020, Barclift received a notice in the mail from Keystone regarding her outstanding debt for medical services. The notice was printed and mailed by RevSpring to Barclift’s home in Pennsylvania. Keystone provided RevSpring with Barclift’s name, address, debt balance, and other information about the debt to populate the mailing. Barclift did not give Keystone prior consent to share that information.

In October 2021, Barclift filed a class action complaint against Keystone on behalf of herself and other Pennsylvania residents who had received collection notices from Keystone through third-party mailing vendors. She claimed that Keystone violated the provision of the FDCPA that bars debt collectors from communicating with third parties in connection with a 1 We recount the facts as alleged in Barclift’s complaint.

3 debt absent prior consent from the debtor (or absent exceptions that do not apply here). 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b). She alleged that the disclosures had caused her embarrassment and stress, invaded her privacy, and inflicted reputational harm.

Keystone moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. The District Court did not reach that argument because it concluded that it lacked jurisdiction, so it dismissed the action without prejudice on that basis and denied Keystone’s motion as moot. In its opinion, the court assumed that Barclift had alleged a procedural violation of the FDCPA based on Keystone’s communication with RevSpring, but it held that Barclift had not alleged a concrete injury sufficient to estab