Bryton v. Preferred Collection & Management Services, Inc.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

ENNIS BRYTON,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 8:21-cv-2608-CEH-AAS

PREFERRED COLLECTION & MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.,

Defendant. ___________________________________/ ORDER This cause comes before the Court upon Defendant's Motion to Stay Pending Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling (Doc. 22). Defendant moves the Court to stay this action pending the en banc United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s resolution of Hunstein v. Preferred Collection Management Services, Inc., No. 19- 14434 (11th Cir.). Doc. 22 at 3. In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff brings, among other claims, a claim for violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b)—the section of the FDCPA that the Eleventh Circuit addressed in Hunstein—and generally alleges that Defendant transmitted personal information to a third party. Doc. 9 ¶¶23–27. In support of the requested stay, Defendant argues that staying this action “will have a substantial impact” on the issue of Plaintiff’s Article III standing and will promote judicial economy. Doc. 22 at 1–2. Plaintiff does not oppose the requested stay. Id. at 3. A district court “has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to control its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 707 (1997). “[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936). Courts

have stayed similar actions pending the en banc Eleventh Circuit’s resolution of Hunstein. See, e.g., Clarke v. Hunter Warfield, Inc., No. 8:21-cv-2011-CEH-SPF, 2022 WL 428969, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 3, 2022); Ferrari v. Receivables Mgmt. Partners, LLC, No. 8:21-cv-2526-CEH-CPT, 2022 WL 738560, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 3, 2022); Kamara v.

Medicredit, Inc., No. 21-cv-23110-Bloom/Otazo-Reyes, 2022 WL 539187, at *1 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 23, 2022). Given the Court’s broad discretion, Plaintiff’s lack of opposition, the entries of stays in similar actions, and the narrowly-tailored nature of the requested relief, the Court will stay the action. Accordingly, it is ORDERED:

1. Defendant's Motion to Stay Pending Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling (Doc. 22) is GRANTED. 2. This action is STAYED until further order of the Court following the en banc Eleventh Circuit’s resolution of the appeal in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc., No. 19-14434 (11th Cir.).

3. Within THIRTY (30) DAYS of the en banc Eleventh Circuit’s resolution of the appeal, the parties must file a notice advising the Court of that resolution and any motion requesting the reopening of the case and the lifting of the stay. 4. The Clerk is directed to terminate all deadlines and pending motions and to ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE this case. DONE AND ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on May 26, 2022.

CA aiMace: 2 AiJarnda Ma Ts gl 0. Charlene Edwards Honeywell United States District Judge

Copies to: Counsel of Record and Unrepresented Parties, if any