In McMahon v. LVNV Funding, LLC, 744 F.3d 1010 (7th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found that a debt buyers’ collection letter purporting to collect on a time-barred debt that used the term “settle” falsely threatened litigation. Relying in part on the district court opinion in Rice v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc., 933 F.Supp.2d 1040… Read More
In Martin v. Pacific Parking Systems Inc., --- Fed.Appx. ----, 2014 WL 3686135 (9th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a denial of class certification in a FACTA—credit card digits truncation case that a class could not be certified because it could not be determined whether the cards used were consumer or business cards. The… Read More
In Haddad v. Alexander, Zelmanski, Danner & Fioritto, PLLC, --- F.3d ----, 2014 WL 3440174 (6th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit purported to set a “baseline” of what the FDCPA requires as far as debt validation in response to a consumer dispute, but said that what validation is required depends on the circumstances. These cases… Read More
In Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC, --- F.3d ----, 2014 WL 3361226 (11th Cir. 2014), when the 11th Circuit sets it put this way, you pretty much know how its coming down. A deluge has swept through U.S. bankruptcy courts of late. Consumer debt buyers—armed with hundreds of delinquent accounts purchased from creditors—are filing proofs of claim on debts deemed unenforceable under… Read More
In Crawford v. Franklin Credit Management Corp., --- F.3d ----, 2014 WL 3377175 (2d Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that that a Plaintiff who had filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy lost standing when she filed the Petition, but regained standing when she dismissed the Petition. We conclude that Crawford has standing to pursue her present claims because her… Read More
In Makreas v. Moore Law Group, A.P.C., --- Fed.Appx. ----, 2014 WL 2979018 (9th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a Plaintiff failed to demonstrate that a creditor was vicariously liable under the FDPCA/Rosenthal Act or that the UCL was a proper vehicle to obtain relief under those statutes. The district court properly dismissed… Read More
In Hill v. Asset Acceptance, LLC, 2014 WL 3014945 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Magistrate Judge Major granted in part and denied in part Rosenthal Act discovery in a class action, some rulings for which are highlighted below. The facts were as follows: Plaintiff seeks actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys fees, and costs for the alleged violations. Id. at 9. The alleged violations… Read More
In Buchholz v. Valarity, LLC, 2014 WL 2882504 (E.D.Mo. 2014), Judge Adelman denied summary judgment to the parties in a TCPA/FDCPA telephonic harassment case. The District Court found that Plaintiff’s allegation that he did not know whether he provided his cellular telephone number to the Defendant was sufficient to defeat summary judgment. Defendant first argues that no genuine issue of… Read More
In McLaughlin v. Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg, LLP, --- F.3d ----, 2014 WL 2883891 (3rd Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that an FDCPA Plaintiff need not demand debt validation as a pre-requisite to filing an FDCPA action. PHS argues that it nonetheless cannot incur “liability as a matter of law where it has complied… Read More
In Tourgeman v. Collins Fin. Serv., Inc. (9th Cir. 2014) 2014 DAR 8247, here, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held, following Robins v. Spokeo, Inc. (9th Cir. 2014) 742 F.3d 409 and other similar cases, that, in general, a plaintiff may establish Article III standing by showing only that the defendant has violated some right or protection granted the… Read More
In Brown v. Mandarich Law Group, LLP, 2014 WL 2860631 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Corley allowed a creditor to offset an FDCPA case against a previously obtained state court judgment on the debt itself. The facts were as follows: On an unknown date, Plaintiff incurred a financial obligation in the form of a consumer credit account with MBNA America N.A. (Dkt.… Read More
In Altman v. J.C. Christensen & Associates, Inc., 2014 WL 2612124 (E.D.N.Y. 2014), Judge Ross refused find a deceptive statement for a settlement offer collection letter mailed during tax season. In Landes v. Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia cogently addressed nearly the same circumstances as are presented here. In Landes, the defendant… Read More
In Johnson v. Stephens & Michaels Associates, Inc., 2014 WL 2506253 (N.D.Ohio 2014), Judge Gaughan found no violation of the FDCPA where a message was left on an answering machine but no third party heard it. For the following reasons, the Court agrees with defendant that summary judgment must be granted. ¶ 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(3) specifically prohibits communication by… Read More
In Davis v. Hollins Law, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 2619651 (E.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Karlton held a bench trial and awarded $250 in statutory penalty under the FDCPA, but nothing under the Rosenthal Act, due to the difference in statutory language between the two statutes. Judge Karlton awarded, however, $35,813.30 in attorneys’ fees to Plaintiffs’ counsel as the prevailing party… Read More
In Fontell v. Hassett, --- Fed.Appx. ----, 2014 WL 2464987 (4th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit distinguished between “default” and mere “delinquency” in determining, under the FDCPA, whether an account was “in default” at the time it was obtained. Excluded from the FDCPA's definition of debt collectors, see 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) is “any person… Read More
In Grant v. Unifund CCR, LLC, --- Fed.Appx. ----, 2014 WL 2444600 (9th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an FDCPA case removed to federal court and then challenged based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine must be remanded, not dismissed. Once the district court dismissed with prejudice the first class of claims, all of the… Read More
In Grace v. LVNV Funding, Inc., 2014 WL 2167487 (W.D.Ky. 2014), Judge Heyburn found that an 18% “service charge” charged for late payments in a medical services contract was disguised “interest” that violated Kentucky’s usury laws and the FDCPA. Judge Heyburn denied summary judgment to the Plaintiff, however, because it was not clear that the misconduct occurred during the FDCPA’s… Read More
In Forkum v. Co-Operative Adjustment Bureau, Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 2119922 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Armstong granted summary judgment to an FDCPA plaintiff who alleged that the Debt Collector did not leave the truncated mini-Miranda on a voicemail message that was left in response to the Plaintiff’s own telephone call. The Court finds the following facts undisputed. Plaintiff is… Read More
In Varnado v. Midland Funding LLC, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 1994622 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Ryu found that the Plaintiff stated no claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress against a debt collector nor any claim for punitive damages. Judge Ryu found, however, that a claim for intrustion on seclusion was stated. Judge Ryu found that debt collectors do not… Read More
In Rector v. WFDS, here, Judge Fischer granted summary judgment on Plaintiff's TCPA, FDCPA, and Intrusion on Seclusion claims. Plaintiff, a third party who was listed as credit reference on customer's credit application, claimed that Wells Fargo made dialer calls to his cell phone. Wells Fargo made a handful of calls to Plaintiff to question the whereabouts of the customer… Read More
