UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _______________

No. 20-1937 _______________

CANDACE MOYER, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, Appellant

v.

PATENAUDE & FELIX, A.P.C.

_______________

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 5-18-cv-04711) District Judge: Honorable Joshua D. Wolson _______________

Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a): January 26, 2021

Before: RESTREPO, BIBAS, and PORTER, Circuit Judges. (Filed: March 16, 2021) ______________ Ari H. Marcus Yitzchak Zelman MARCUS & ZELMAN 701 Cookman Avenue, Suite 300 Asbury Park, NJ 07712

Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellant Candace Moyer Edward M. Koch Marc L. Penchansky WHITE & WILLIAMS One Liberty Place, Suite 1800 1650 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103

Counsel for Defendant-Appellee Patenaude & Felix, A.P.C.

______________

OPINION OF THE COURT ______________ PORTER, Circuit Judge.

Candace Moyer brought a putative class action against Patenaude & Felix, A.P.C. under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) after Patenaude sent her a collection letter inviting her to “eliminate further collection action” by calling Patenaude. Moyer claimed that this invitation to call

2 Patenaude (1) deceives debtors by making them think a phone call is a “legally effective” means of ceasing collection activ- ity, and (2) makes debtors uncertain about their right to dispute a debt in writing. Moyer’s claims fail, so we will affirm the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Patenaude.

I

Moyer failed to pay her credit-card debt, so the card issuer hired Patenaude to collect it. Patenaude sent Moyer a one-page, single-sided collection letter that stated the follow- ing:

Please be advised that the above-referenced debt has been assigned to this firm to initiate collec- tion efforts regarding your delinquent outstand- ing balance to our client. If you wish to eliminate further collection action, please contact us at 800-832-7675 ext. 8500.

Unless you notify this office within THIRTY (30) days of receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt, or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid.

If you notify this office in writing within THIRTY (30) days of receiving this notice that this debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, this office will obtain verification of the debt, or a copy of a judgment against you, and mail you a copy of such verification or judgment. Further, if you make a written request upon this office

3 within THIRTY (30) days of receiving this notice, this office will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

This is an attempt to collect a debt and any infor- mation obtained will be used for that purpose. App. 29.

Moyer sued Patenaude for violating the FDCPA. Ac- cording to Moyer, the letter’s second sentence—“[i]f you wish to eliminate further collection action, please contact us at 800- 832-7675 ext. 8500” (the “Contact Sentence”)—would deceive a debtor. Moyer argues that the Contact Sentence would lead a debtor to believe that a phone call is a “legally effective way to stop such collection action” when, in reality, only written com- munication can legally stop collection activit