Sheriff v. Gillie
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) excludes from the definition of “debt collector” an “officer or employee of the United States or any State to the extent that collecting or attempting to collect any debt is in the performance of his official duties.” This case presents the question whether a special counsel hired by a state attorney general as an independent contractor to collect state debts is an “officer” of the state under this exclusion. The case also presents the question whether such special counsel violates the FDCPA if he uses the letterhead of the state attorney general’s office in his communications with consumers. The government’s brief argues that such a special counsel is not an “officer” of the state and that he may violate the FDCPA by using official state letterhead in his communications.