In Keim v. ADF MidAtlantic, LLC, 12-80577-CIV, 2013 WL 3717737 (S.D. Fla. 2013), the Southern District of Florida granted a motion to dismiss a TCPA class action complaint, holding that the defendants' Rule 68 offer of full potential relief to the named plaintiff rendered said plaintiff's individual claims moot and, in turn, that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the claims. The plaintiff in Keim filed a class action complaint for statutory damages and injunctive relief under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the "TCPA") for sending unsolicited commercial ...
In Schlegel v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2013 WL 3336727, (9th Cir. July 3, 2013), the Ninth Circuit held that Wells Fargo did not qualify as a "debt collector" under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), even though the mortgage debt it sought to collect was in default at the time it was assigned to Wells Fargo. The facts of this case are relatively simple. After the plaintiffs' defaulted loan was assigned to Wells Fargo, the plaintiffs entered into a loan modification agreement with Wells Fargo and proceeded to make payments under the agreement. However, Wells Fargo began ...
In Grubb v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, No. 2:12-cv-301 (E.D. Tenn. July 10, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee recently dismissed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") claim against defendants for filing a false affidavit in a state collection lawsuit because the affidavit at issue clearly stated that it was only based on business records of the defendant. Furthermore, the court dismissed an additional FDCPA claim, which alleged that defendants sought an unauthorized rate of interest and attorneys' fees in their state court ...
In Brown v. DIRECTV, LLC, No. CV 12-08382, 2013 WL 3273811 (C.D. Cal. June 26, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") claims based on collection calls were arbitrable since they related to the customer agreement. Plaintiff Joshua Brown filed suit against DIRECTV and others alleging violations of the TCPA based on automated collection calls on his account. DIRECTV moved to compel Brown's claims to arbitration. Brown ordered DIRECTV satellite service online and was presented with "DIRECTV Terms and ...
The Second Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") claim brought by a non-debtor under the mootness doctrine after an offer of judgment conveyed orally in open court was rejected. In Doyle v. Midland Credit Management, Inc. ---- F. 3d ---, 2013 WL 3242148 (2d Cir. June 28, 2013), the Second Circuit held that an offer of judgment need not comply with the offer of judgment rule in order to render a case moot. Doyle filed suit against Midland alleging that Midland had harassed him, failed to disclose Midland was a debt collector, and made ...