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U.S. Supreme Court To Consider Appeal On FDPCA Case

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Over 8000+ consumer rights cases settled.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

U.S. Supreme Court To Consider Appeal On FDPCA Case

A petition was recently submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to consider a case on appeal which involves the settlement of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases. The petition was brought by some of the biggest trade groups in the debt collection industry.The case in question is Convergent Outsourcing, Inc., f/k/a ER Solutions, Inc., V. Anthony W. Zinni, one of three cases recently revived by a Circuit Court, all of which address settlement rejections around FDCPA lawsuits. Three debt collection industry groups—ACA International, DBA International, and the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA)—asked the Supreme Court in their petition, “whether a settlement offer that provides a plaintiff with all the relief available, but not a formal judgment embodying the settlement, moots the underlying claim.” The industry groups are actually more concerned with having to pay attorney fees and court The case in question is Convergent Outsourcing, Inc., f/k/a ER Solutions, Inc., V. Anthony W. Zinni, one of three cases recently revived by a Circuit Court, all of which address settlement rejections around FDCPA lawsuits. Three debt collection industry groups—ACA International, DBA International, and the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA)—asked the Supreme Court in their petition, “whether a settlement offer that provides a plaintiff with all the relief available, but not a formal judgment embodying the settlement, moots the underlying claim.” The industry groups are actually more concerned with having to pay attorney fees and court costs than actual settlement amounts.The three rejected cases, all from Southern Florida were brought by consumers whose rights had been violated under the FDCPA. In each case, the collection agency (who was being sued) offered a dollar more than the maximum statutory damages available for an individual plaintiff under the FDCPA—$1,001. The consumers rejected these offers.The collection agencies filed motions to dismiss (under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1)), arguing that they had offered the plaintiffs everything they were entitled to under the FDCPA, so the FDCPA claims were moot and should be dismissed. Judges in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida agreed, and dismissed the cases. But, a three-judge appeals circuit court panel took issue with the lower court’s rulings, and reversed the decisions.In appeal, the major concern was that the debt collectors didn’t offer judgment against themselves in their settlements; an entry of judgment is important to the debtor, because if the collection agency’s only offer was a promise to pay, the collection agencies could break their promise rather easily. In that case, the consumer has to file a breach of contract suit in state court, for any kind of compensation.If a collection agency has harassed you, you may be entitled to money damages up to $1,000.00, based on the FDCPA, which has been around for almost 35 years. The FDCPA is a federal law that applies to every state. In other words, everyone is protected by the FDCPA. The FDCPA is essentially a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. Plus, the FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, the collection agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Founding attorney, Michael Agruss, has settled over 1,500 debt collection harassment cases. We want to help you, too. 

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