# Bona fide error defense — definition

> The bona fide error defense relieves a debt collector of FDCPA liability if it proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid such error.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/bona-fide-error/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-07-26
- Status: in attorney review. Served noindex and excluded from the sitemap; do not cite as settled.

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**Bona fide error defense** — The bona fide error defense relieves a debt collector of FDCPA liability if it proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid such error.

The defense lives at 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(c) and has three independent elements — unintentional, bona fide, and procedures reasonably adapted — all of which the collector bears the burden of proving. In Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA, decided April 21, 2010, the Supreme Court held the defense does not reach a violation resulting from a debt collector's mistaken interpretation of the FDCPA's legal requirements. That holding is why the defense is, in practice, a clerical-error and systems-failure defense: it protects the firm whose letter vendor merged the wrong balance, not the firm whose counsel read § 1692g wrong.

## Primary sources

1. [15 U.S.C. § 1692k(c); Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA (U.S. Apr. 21, 2010)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692k)

## See also

- [UDAAP](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/udaap/)
- [Examination](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/examination/)
- [Attestation](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/attestation/)

## Where this appears

- [What Is the FDCPA (15 U.S.C. 1692), and Who Does It Actually Cover?](https://ottoforfirms.com/compliance/fdcpa/)

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