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Art. III Standing

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6th Cir. Issues Some Rough Justice on Art. III Standing in FDCPA Case: Plaintiff’s Anxiety to Justify Standing “”falls squarely on” his own shoulders “because he chose not to pay his debts” and “fear[ed] the consequences of his delinquency”

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Garland v. Orlans, PC, No. 20-1527, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 16107, at *7 (6th Cir. May 28, 2021), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found no Article III standing arising from a debt collector's dunning letters sent to the Plaintiff. The Court of Appeals found that the confusion the Plaintiff allegedly suffered from the dunning letter did… Read More

District Court (Wis.) Says FDCPA Art. III Standing Tied to Damages Fairly Traceable to the Defendant’s Misconduct

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Johnson v. Heuer Law Offices, No. 19-CV-1171-JPS-JPS, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56709 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 25, 2021), Judge Stadtmueller granted summary judgment to a debt collection law firm who was alleged not to have “meaningful involvement” in the sending of dunning letters.  The Judge Stadmueller held that although the Plaintiff clearly had emotional distress tied to the law firm’s… Read More

Well that’s interesting. 7th Cir. Refuses to Grant Petition to Compel Arbitration of FDCPA Claim Because Plaintiff Lacked Art. III Jurisdiction to Start.

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Nettles v. Midland Funding LLC, No. 19-3327, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40012 (7th Cir. Dec. 21, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declined to address arbitration of an FDCPA case because of lack of Art. III jurisdiction to start. Most of the briefing concerns the arbitration issue, but the parties also identify a possible problem with… Read More

11th Cir. Says Overshadowing Claim Based on Second Dunning Letter Sent During FDCPA’s 30-day Validation Period Did Not Confer Art. III Standing

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Cooper v. Atl. Credit & Fin., No. 19-12177, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 23719 (11th Cir. July 28, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found no Article III standing for an overshadowing claim under the FDCPA. Here, Cooper's alleged injuries are just  as inchoate, if not more so. She does not allege that, without the purportedly confusing… Read More

SCOTUS Remands Google Privacy Class Action Settlement to Evaluate Spokeo Standing

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Frank v. Gaos, the SCOTUS today placed further standing impediments to privacy and other purely statutory/no damages class actions, finding, following objections to the class action settlement, that the case should be remanded to determine standing under Spokeo.  The background facts were as follows: Three named plaintiffs brought class action claims against Google for alleged violations of the Stored Communications Act.… Read More

6th Cir. Says Congress Lacks Authority to Create Injury under Article III When There Was None; Dismisses FDCPA Letter Case for Lack of Standing

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Hagy v. Demers & Adams, 2018 WL 914953, at *3–5 (C.A.6 (Ohio), 2018), the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit held that "[w]e know of no circuit court decision since Spokeo that endorses an anything-hurts-so-long-as-Congress-says-it-hurts theory of Article III injury.".  Thus, the 6th Circuit held that a bare FDCPA violation without correlative injury did not vest Article III… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Rosenthal Act Complaint about Collection Letter Does Not Satisfy Spokeo

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Provo v. Rady Childrens Hospital-San Diego, 2016 WL 4625556, at *2 (S.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Miller dismissed a Rosenthal Act claim with leave to amend because the Plaintiffs had not pleaded any concrete injury under Spokeo.  Here, the only harm Plaintiffs plead is in reference to phone calls made by CMRE's codefendant, Rady, which Plaintiffs allege caused “undue stress, anxiety, and frustration....”… Read More

District Court (Ill.) Rejects Spokeo-challenge to FDCPA Class Action

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Quinn v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC, 2016 WL 4264967, at *4–5 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Bucklo rejected a Spokeo challenge to an FDCPA class action grounded in the Defendant's alleged contact with represented debtors. I am unpersuaded. As an initial matter, despite SLS's suggestion to the contrary, Spokeo does not stand for the proposition that a procedural violation of a… Read More

District Court (Pa.) Says Douglass-type Glassine Window FDCPA Violation Confers Spokeo Standing In-and-of-Itself

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Daubert v. NRA Group, LLC, 2016 WL 4245560, at *4 (M.D.Pa., 2016), Judge Caputo found that a Douglass-glassine window violation confers Article III standing under Spokeo.  Similarly, here, Plaintiff's injury is also the unlawful disclosure of legally protected information. This injury is “clearly particularized,” as Plaintiff alleges that it was his personal identifying information that was disclosed. This injury… Read More