Class Action Claims LabCorp Debt Collection Letter Violated Federal, State Law

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A proposed class action claims Laboratory Corporation of America, LCA Collections and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings sent collection letters that violated certain provisions of federal and state debt collection laws.

According to the case out of Texas, the defendants sent the plaintiff a March 28, 2020 letter in an attempt to collect a debt the individual purportedly owed for laboratory work. Per the case, LabCorp acted as a debt collector in sending the letter yet failed to properly identify the creditor to whom the amount was owed. Moreover, LabCorp failed to adhere to several facets of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) while demanding payment for the alleged debt, the suit says.

The plaintiff says the March 28 letter he received from LCA Collections stated that his account was “seriously past due.” The letter went on to state that if the plaintiff failed to pay the past-due amount, his account would be referred to a third-party collection agency, and that LabCorp may refuse to provide future laboratory services, according to the case. 

Despite using the name “LabCorp,” the letter did not explain what was meant by the term, nor whether LabCorp was the creditor to whom the debt was due, the suit says. Moreover, the defendants failed to explain whether or how the plaintiff incurred a debt to LabCorp, the case argues.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff was not informed at any point in time that laboratory services would be performed, billed and processed by an entity other than his physician’s office. Additionally, the man never entered into a contract with LabCorp, the case says.

Despite never having agreed to receive lab services from LabCorp, the plaintiff was unlawfully threatened by the defendants’ statement that “LabCorp reserves the right to refuse laboratory services for failure to pay past due balances,” the suit charges. Moreover, the case claims that although the letter was sent by “LCA Collections,” it specified that payment should be mailed to “Laboratory Corporation of America.”

Per the suit, the defendants failed to clearly identify the plaintiff’s creditor and unlawfully acted as a debt collector even though “the facts do not clearly demonstrate” that LabCorp is “any person . . . to whom a debt is owed.”

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