What happens when a debt buyer purchases medical debt owed by someone who shares your name — and its collection agency finds you instead? Long v. Pendrick Capital Partners II, LLC, 374 F. Supp. 3d 515 (D. Md. 2019), is the District of Maryland's answer, and it is a blueprint for one of the most common fact patterns we see.
The facts
Pendrick, a debt buyer, acquired medical debts belonging to a Crystal Long. Its collector, using skip-tracing, located a different Crystal Long — the plaintiff — and began collecting from her and credit-reporting the debt as hers. She disputed; the responses did not fix the problem.
The rulings
On cross-motions for summary judgment, Judge Hazel's opinion sustained the heart of the case. The FCRA §1681s-2(b) claims survived: a jury could find the furnisher's investigation of her disputes — which had failed to catch that she was simply not the debtor — unreasonable. The FDCPA claims survived too, including the principle that a debt buyer can be vicariously liable for its collection agency's violations, and the court noted the statute's unforgiving structure:
"FDCPA is a strict liability statute and a consumer only has to prove one violation to trigger liability."
Maryland state-law claims (MCDCA, MCPA) and defamation theories also continued toward trial.
Why this case matters for Marylanders
First, it shows the full toolkit: a single wrong-person collection episode can support federal FCRA claims, federal FDCPA claims, Maryland consumer-protection claims, and common-law defamation — each with its own damages. Second, it confirms that the "we bought the debt, our vendor did the collecting" structure does not insulate anyone. Third, it happened in our courthouse: the District of Maryland takes these cases, and takes them seriously.
If a collector is chasing you for a stranger's debt — same name, wrong person — do not just explain it on the phone. Dispute in writing, to the bureaus and the collector, and keep everything. That paper is what turned Crystal Long's ordeal into a case.