In Fosnight v. LVNV Funding, LLC, 2015 WL 6394334, at *5 (S.D.Ind.,2015), Judge McKinney found that the FDCPA’s $500,000 statutory cap was no impediment to class certification.
Defendants’ main argument as to the superiority of a class action is based on the propriety of the remedy portion of the FDCPA, which provides for a maximum recovery of $1,000.00 for the class representative and the lesser of $500,000.00 or 1% of Defendants’ net worth, as well as attorney’s fees. 15 U.S.C. § 1692(b)(2). Defendants take issue with the fact that each member of the class could find her own counsel and recover much more on her own, as well as attorney’s fees. Dkt. No. 31 at 10–11. The Court is not persuaded that the monetary recovery is the touchstone of the adequacy of a class action. As Plaintiff points out, there is a relatively few number of putative class members who will realize they have a claim or be willing to pursue a claim with all the attendant requirements of being available for depositions, conferences, or even a trial. Further, Plaintiff has provided evidence that each putative plaintiff could recover as much as $91.00 per person, which is more than de minimis. Even if the recovery is de minimis, there is value in allowing class treatment here to address potentially unlawful behavior that would not otherwise be addressed because the barriers to bringing suit are too high. Cf. Mace v. Van Ru Credit Corp., 109 F.3d 338, 344 (7th Cir.1997) (discussing the purpose of class actions in contexts such as these where the recovery of each plaintiff may be low).