Capital One Bank (Usa), N.A. v. Randy Taylor

CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedNovember 25, 2015
Docket13-2043
StatusPublished

This text of Capital One Bank (Usa), N.A. v. Randy Taylor (Capital One Bank (Usa), N.A. v. Randy Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capital One Bank (Usa), N.A. v. Randy Taylor, (iowactapp 2015).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 13-2043 Filed November 25, 2015

CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A., Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

RANDY TAYLOR, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, Paul Riffel,

Judge.

Randy Taylor appeals the district court’s summary judgment decision

denying his unfair debt collection counterclaim and finding that Capital One Bank

was entitled to recover on the underlying credit card debt. AFFIRMED.

Raymond H. Johnson of Johnson Law Firm, West Des Moines, for

appellant.

Christopher L. Low of Abendroth & Russell, P.C., Des Moines, and Jeffrey

D. Pilgrim of Pilgrim Christakis, L.L.P., Chicago, Illinois, for appellee.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and William L. Brauch and Jessica J.

Whitney, Assistant Attorneys General, amicus curiae.

Heard by Doyle, P.J., Bower, J., and Miller, S.J.*

*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2015). 2

MILLER, Senior Judge.

Randy Taylor appeals from the district court’s ruling denying his unfair

debt collection counterclaim against Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. (Capital One)

on summary judgment and finding that Capital One proved it was entitled to

recover the underlying credit card debt. Taylor claims Capital One’s failure to file

a notification with the Iowa Attorney General before attempting to collect debt

from Taylor constitutes an unfair debt collection violation of the Iowa Debt

Collection Practices Act. Taylor further claims the district court erred in

concluding Capital One proved the elements of the account stated theory of

recovery and that Capital One provided a proper right-to-cure notice. Upon our

review of the record, we conclude the district court did not err in denying Taylor’s

unfair debt collection counterclaim because Iowa law does not provide a private

cause of action for a debt collector’s failure to file notification with the state.

Further, we find the district court did not err in granting Capital One’s claim for

recovery because Capital One has proved the elements of the account stated

theory and provided Taylor with a proper notice of right to cure.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings

On March 11, 2001, Taylor applied for a revolving credit account with

Capital One. Capital One approved Taylor’s application and issued a revolving

credit account to Taylor, governed by a cardholder agreement. Taylor is the

cardholder on the account and used or authorized the use of the account for the

purchase of goods, services, or cash advances. Capital One sent regular 3

monthly statements addressed to Taylor at the address he provided. On May 7,

2012, Capital One mailed Taylor a notice of right to cure default.

On September 20, 2012, Capital One filed a civil action against Taylor

seeking payment for a credit card debt in the amount of $12,475.69 plus interest

and costs. Attached to Capital One’s petition were a credit card agreement, a

November 2011 billing statement, a December 2011 charge-off statement, a

cycle facsimile report detailing the state of the account, and a right-to-cure notice.

On October 9, 2012, Taylor filed his answer, including numerous affirmative

defenses and his unfair debt collection counterclaim at issue here. The

counterclaim alleged Capital One violated the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act

(IDCPA), Iowa Code section 537.7103 (2011), when it filed suit attempting to

collect debt from Taylor without first registering as a debt collector with the Iowa

Attorney General pursuant to Iowa Consumer Credit Code (ICCC) section

537.6202 (requiring notification and designation of a registered agent for service

of process).

On October 29, 2012, Capital One filed a motion for summary judgment

regarding Taylor’s counterclaim, attaching an affidavit by a Capital One

employee in support of its motion. On December 3, 2012, Taylor filed a

resistance to Capital One’s motion, attaching an affidavit by his attorney, which

did not dispute any of the facts Capital One had put forth and instead alleged that

Taylor was prejudiced by Capital One’s failure to file notification for purposes of

service of process. On December 11, 2012, the district court issued an order

denying Capital One’s motion. In its order, the district court found that Capital 4

One is required to register with the Iowa Attorney General to collect debt in Iowa,

and that a failure to do so is a violation of the ICCC upon which Taylor could

base a counterclaim. In so holding, the district court found that Capital One, as a

national bank, is not licensed, certified, or authorized under chapter 524 but is

instead organized under the National Bank Act (NBA). The court further found

that an exception for national banks from the notification requirement “would

defeat the purpose of the statute,” because “[t]he chapter 524 exemption is for in-

state banks regulated by the Iowa Division of Banking who are located in Iowa,

regulated in Iowa, and easy to find for purposes of service [of] process.” Finally,

the court noted that Taylor “could be disadvantaged by [Capital One]’s failure to

register inasmuch as it would be costly and time-consuming to pursue discovery

and defense in this matter.”

On July 12, 2013, Capital One filed a renewed motion for summary

judgment and also filed a motion for summary judgment on its own claim against

Taylor.1 On July 26, 2013, Taylor filed a motion for summary judgment on his

counterclaim alleging he suffered actual damages and injury and should be

compensated in an amount to be proved at trial, including actual and statutory

damages, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. On October 29, 2013, the

district court issued an order granting Capital One’s renewed motion for summary

1 Capital One claims that the parties engaged in written discovery during the period between the district court’s December 11, 2012 ruling and the filing of Capital One’s renewed motion the following July. Taylor argues that he provided no additional discovery responses and did not request discovery from Capital One between the first and second motions for summary judgment and that Capital One was engaging in “judge shopping.” As noted in our analysis below, a district court judge may review and modify another judge’s interlocutory ruling at any point prior to final judgment. McCormick v. Meyer, 582 N.W.2d 141, 144 (Iowa 1998). 5

judgment on Taylor’s counterclaim, granting Capital One’s motion for summary

judgment on its own claim against Taylor, and denying Taylor’s motion for

summary judgment on his counterclaim.

In its order, the district court found that under section 537.6201, national

banks are exempted from the notification and registration requirements of section

537.6202 and Capital One’s failure to register cannot constitute an unfair debt

collection practice. The district court reasoned that Capital One is exempt

because it is “authorized to engage in business under chapter 524.” See Iowa

Code § 537.6201. The district court concluded that because Capital One is not

required to file a notification, no genuine issues of material fact existed and

Capital One was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.

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