In Palmer v. Credit Collection Services, Inc., 2015 WL 9315986, at *2 (E.D.Pa., 2015), Judge Bartle granted summary judgment to an FDCPA plaintiff in a Douglass-type glassine window case, extending Douglass to prohibiting barcodes visible on dunning letters.
The plaintiff here maintains that Douglass is directly on point and supports her summary judgment motion. She equates the visibility of the debtor’s account number in Douglass with the visibility of her bar code. The defendant counters that Douglass is distinguishable because plaintiff’s account number was not visible through the glassine window and even after scanning the bar code the file number was scrambled. The defendant asserts that finding a violation of § 1692f(8) would be absurd and that we should at least invoke the benign language exception. The plaintiff replies that the digits are not sufficiently jumbled to veil her file number. The bar code in issue is designed to apply specifically to the plaintiff and relates to the debt she allegedly owes. Contrary to the focus of the parties’ arguments, it is irrelevant whether the bar code, when scanned, reveals a scrambled or unscrambled number. Again, § 1692f(8) plainly forbids bar codes of any kind. In sum, the FDCPA is remedial and must be interpreted “to give full effect” to its purposes. See Douglass, 765 F.3d at 306. We must read and apply the words of § 1692f(8) as written since they do not create an absurd result under the undisputed facts in the record. Consequently, the defendant is liable to the plaintiff for damages for the violation of the FDCPA. The amount will have to be decided in a future proceeding. Whether it is sound public policy to allow a debtor to obtain damages from a debt collector in the present circumstances is not for the court to say. We must construe the law, not make it. The court will grant the motion of plaintiff for summary judgment on liability and deny the motion of the defendant for summary judgment.