Barclift v. Keystone Credit Servs., LLC, 93 F.4th 136 (3rd Cir. February 16, 2024) (Freeman, C.J.).
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 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.
Applying our interpretation of TransUnion to Barclift’s allegations, we conclude that she cannot establish standing for her claim. She cannot demonstrate that the injury resulting from Keystone’s communication of her personal information to a third-party mailing vendor bears a close relationship to a harm traditionally recognized by American courts. See TransUnion, 594 U.S. at 417.
