Blandina v. Midland Funding, LLC

303 F.R.D. 245, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177345, 2014 WL 7338744
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 23, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-1179
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 303 F.R.D. 245 (Blandina v. Midland Funding, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blandina v. Midland Funding, LLC, 303 F.R.D. 245, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177345, 2014 WL 7338744 (E.D. Pa. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

NITZAI. QUIÑONES ALEJANDRO, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Before this Court is a motion for class certification filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (Rule) 23 by Violet P. Blandina (“Plaintiff’), [ECF 36], the opposition filed by Defendants Midland Funding, LLC (“MF”) and Midland Credit Management Inc. (“MCM”) (collectively “Defendants”), [ECF 39], and Plaintiffs reply. [ECF 46]. The motion has been fully briefed and for the reasons stated herein, the motion for class certification is granted. BACKGROUND

The largely undisputed relevant facts of Plaintiffs claims are summarized as follows:

Plaintiff, a resident of Pennsylvania, obtained an account with Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc., which she used for personal, family, or household purposes. At some point in time, Plaintiff defaulted on her payments. Subsequently, Defendant MF, a purchaser of defaulted consumer debt, acquired the defaulted Verizon account. By letters dated March 9, 2011, July 30, 2011, and September 10, 2011, Defendant MCM, a collector of consumer debt contracted by Defendant MF, attempted to collect Plaintiffs debt. In each of the three collection letters, Defendant MCM represented that Plaintiff owed $568.10.
On March 8, 2012, Defendant MCM sent Plaintiff a fourth collection letter which again repeated that the amount owed on the defaulted account was $568.10. The letter also included the following language: Benefits of Paying!
We will stop applying interest to your account!
Over the course of this litigation, Defendants have admitted that no interest had accrued and no interest would accrue on Plaintiffs account, or on any other similar account acquired by Defendant MF from Verizon.

In her complaint, [ECF 1], and amended complaint, [ECF 2], Plaintiff asserts claims on behalf of herself and a purported class of similarly-situated debtors, averring that Defendants violated various provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) when sending her and the purported class members the above-described collection letter which misrepresented that interest was accruing on the debt owed, when, in fact, interest was not.

In the instant motion, Plaintiff moves to certify a class of similarly-situated debtors based on the allegations in her amended complaint.1 [ECF 36]. Specifically, Plaintiff defines the proposed class members as:

All consumers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to whom, from March 5, 2012, and continuing through the resolution of this action, Defendants sent a letter substantially in the form attached to the Amended Complaint as Exhibit A, in an attempt to collect a consumer debt allegedly owed to Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc.

LEGAL STANDARD

Rule 23 governs the certification of class actions in federal court. A plaintiff seeking class certification must satisfy all requirements of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the requirements of Rule 23(b). Amgen Inc. v. Conn. Ret. Plans & Trust Funds, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1184, 1194, 185 L.Ed.2d 308 (2013); see also Marcus v. BMW of North America, 687 F.3d 583, 590 (3d Cir. 2012). “Rule 23 does not set forth a mere pleading standard. A party seeking class certification must affirmatively demonstrate his compliance with the Rule.” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2551, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011). A [249]*249district court’s analysis of a motion for class certification “must be ‘rigorous’ and may ‘entail some overlap with the merits of the plaintiffs underlying claim.’” Amgen Inc., 133 S.Ct. at 1194 (quoting Dukes, 131 S.Ct. at 2551). However, “Rule 23 grants courts no license to engage in free-ranging merits inquiries at the certification stage. Merits questions may be considered to the extent— but only to the extent—that they are relevant to determining whether Rule 23 prerequisites for class certification are satisfied.” Id. at 1194-95. “Factual determinations necessary to make Rule 23 findings must be made by a preponderance of the evidence.” In re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litig., 552 F.3d 305, 320 (3d Cir.2008).

To satisfy the Rule 23(a) requirements:

(1) the class must be “so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable” (numerosity); (2) there must be “questions of law or fact common to the class” (commonality); (3) “the claims or defenses of the representative parties” must be “typical of the claims or defenses of the class” (typicality); and (4) the named plaintiffs must “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class” (adequacy of representation, or simply adequacy).

Marcus, 687 F.3d at 590-91 (citations omitted).

Here, Plaintiff seeks certification of the proposed class, as previously defined, pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3). This Rule permits certification when the court finds that “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members” and that “a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3).

DISCUSSION

In the class action complaint, Plaintiff avers that Defendants violated various provisions of the FDCPA when sending a collection letter (see Exhibit A, attached to the amended complaint) that was a false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of a debt, and/or was an unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect a debt. Plaintiffs contentions are premised on the argument that the representation that appears in the letter implies that if the consumer/reeipient agreed to pay a certain reduced amount of money to satisfy the debt owed, Defendants would stop applying interest to the debt when, in reality, Defendants admittedly were not applying interest to the debt despite the language or representation in the letter; to wit: “Benefits of Paying! We will stop applying interest to your account!” (Emphasis added).

In the underlying motion, Plaintiff seeks class certification. To determine whether class certification is appropriate, an analysis of each Rule 23(a) factor is required.

1. Ascertainability

As a prerequisite to class certification, a plaintiff “must show by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a reliable and administratively feasible method for ascertaining the class.” Hayes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 725 F.3d 349, 356 (3d Cir.2013). To ascertain the class, “the class must be defined with reference to objective criteria,” and, “there must be a reliable and administratively feasible mechanism for determining whether putative class members fall within the class definition.” Id. at 355.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
303 F.R.D. 245, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177345, 2014 WL 7338744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blandina-v-midland-funding-llc-paed-2014.