Chamberlin v. National Credit Adjusters, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedApril 1, 2022
Docket2:22-cv-00430
StatusUnknown

This text of Chamberlin v. National Credit Adjusters, LLC (Chamberlin v. National Credit Adjusters, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chamberlin v. National Credit Adjusters, LLC, (D. Nev. 2022).

Opinion

ALVERSON TAYLOR & SANDERS 1 |] KURT R. BONDS, ESO. 2 Nevada Bar #6228 6605 Grand Montecito Parkway, Suite 200 3 || Las Vegas, Nevada 89149 Telephone: (702) 384-7000 4 || Facsimile: (702) 385-7000 efile@alversontaylor.com 5 Attorney for Defendant 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 8 . 10 BRIAN CHAMBERLAIN,

11 Plaintiff, 12

y 13 a & v. Case No. 2:22-cv-00430-JAD-BN

= 15

16 > NATIONAL CREDIT ADJUSTERS, LLC, 2 17 18 Defendant. 19 20 21 DEFENDANT NATIONAL CREDIT ADJUSTERS, LLC’S MOTION FOR MORE 22 DEFINITE STATEMENT 23 THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT: 24 . COMES NOW, Defendant National Credit Adjusters, LLC (“NCA”) and files its Motio 25 for More Definite Statement as follows: 26 I INTRODUCTION 28 ss |, □□□ —, f 4 □

1. Plaintiff Brian Chamberlain (“Plaintiff”) filed his state court Complaint on February 8 4 |} 2022, in the Justice Court, Las Vegas Township, Clark County, Nevada located at 200 Lewis Ave 3 ||Las Vegas, NV 89101. NCA removed the case to this Court on March 8, 2022, on the basis o 4 || federal question jurisdiction. See Exhibit A. 2. This is a civil action based on Plaintiff's contention that NCA increased the paymen 6 amount for a settlement arrangement that he agreed to in relation to the debt at issue. See Exhibi B. Plaintiff further alleges that NCA reported an inaccurate tradeline on Plaintiff's credit report, 9 Id. Actions such as these are usually based on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 10 || 1692 et seg. (the “FDCPA”), which regulates debt collection activity, and/or the Fair Credi : 11 |j Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seg. (the “FCRA”), which governs credit reporting activities 12 || Based on Plaintiff's alleged facts, Plaintiff's claims could plausibly fail under either or bot 13 statutory schemes. Jd. me 614 3. However, Plaintiff's Complaint does not put NCA on notice of what alleged violation 16 NCA committed. Jd. The Complaint does not specify what statutory provisions were violated, ho 7 NCA’s alleged conduct violated any statutory provisions, or how Plaintiff has a right to relief base 18 || on his factual allegations. Jd. In the case at bar, Plaintiff's Complaint is so vague and threadbar 19 || as to deny NCA an opportunity to fully defend itself in this matter. To this end, NCA requests tha 20 || this Court grant its Motion for a More Definite Statement and require Plaintiff to file a Complain 21 which adequately places NCA on notice as to the nature of and underlying facts supportin Plaintiff's claims against NCA.

>A Il. ARGUMENTS AND AUTHORITIES 25 A. Standard of Law 26 || 4. Federal Rule Civil of Procedure 12(e) allows a party to request a more definitive pleadin 27 |! when the current pleading is “so vague or ambiguous that the party cannot reasonably prepare 28

response.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(e). Accordingly, while Rule 8(a)(2) requires that a pleading contai || only a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief”, a pa 3 || may file a motion for a more definite statement “‘where the complaint is so vague or ambiguou 4 |/that the opposing party cannot respond, even with a simple denial, in good faith or withou prejudice to himself.’” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Bank of N.Y. Mellon v. Azure Estates Owners Ass’n 6 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 237262, at *4 (D. Nev. July 23, 2019) (quoting Blizzard Entm’t, Inc. v. Lilith Games (Shanghai) Co., 149 F. Supp. 3d 1171 (N.D. Cal. 2015); Cellars v. Pacific Coas.

9 Packaging, Inc., 189 F.R.D. 575, 578 (N.D. Cal. 1999); see also Tomassi v. Amcol Sys., Civi 10 || Action No. 14-CV-11077, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93685, at *2 (E.D. Mich. July 10, 2014) (citin : 11 || Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(e)); Soumano v. Equifax Credit Info Ser., Inc., No. 1:16-CV-313, 2016 U.S 12 || Dist. LEXIS 96919, 2016 WL 4007094, at *2 (S.D. Ohio July 25, 2016), report an 6 13 recommendation adopted, No. 1:16-CV-313, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112994, 2016 WL 444963 5 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 24, 2016) (motions for a more definite statement should be granted when th Z plaintiff's pleading is “so vague or unintelligible that it is virtually impossible for the defendant t 17 craft its responsive pleading.”). Further, Rule 12(e) motions are also appropriate when a plaintifi 18 crafted a “shotgun pleading” making it difficult or “impossible to know which factua 19 || allegations in a pleading are intended to support which claims for legal relief.” Bostic v. Davis 20 |INo. 15-CV-3029, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28926, 2017 WL 784814, at *2 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 1, 2017), al B. The Vague And Ambiguous Nature Of Plaintiff's Complaint Renders I 22 Virtually Impossible For Defendant To Create A Responsive Pleading. 23 15. Plaintiff's Complaint alleges in its entirety the following: “I made a settlement wit 24 |) Charlotte Richardson and National Credit Adjusters for $280 and later found out via a phone cal 25 that the settlement arrangment [sic] was for $285. On my credit report they put the 280 as payment.” See Exhibit B. This is the extent of the information provided to NCA regarding th

28 claims alleged against it by Plaintiff.

6. While NCA believes that Plaintiff may be attempting to allege a claim under the FDCP 2, || and/or the FCRA, based on the reference to his credit report, past litigation involving similar claim 3 || regarding credit reporting and the industry in which NCA operates, NCA is left entirely unsur 4 || what Plaintiff is alleging that NCA did wrong. Moreover, Plaintiff's Complaint does not alleg any claims upon which relief can be granted. 6 7. For example, Plaintiff claims to have “made a settlement with . .. National Credit Adjuster: for $280” but does not specify what exactly was settled. See Exhibit B. Because proving th

9 existence of a “debt” arising from consumer debt is a “threshold” issue in every FDCPA action 10 || Plaintiff is required to identify the specific nature of the underlying financial obligation at issue : 11 || Turner v. Cook, 362 F.3d 1219, 1226-27 (9th Cir. 2004) (internal citation omitted). Further: 12 || Plaintiff also claims that NCA reported a $280 payment on his credit report, but does not identifi 13. what statutes or provisions NCA allegedly violated nor how NCA’s credit reporting □□□□□□□□ violated any of those statutes or provisions. Jd. 8. While NCA recognizes that Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, and perhaps did not expec 7 himself to be hauled into federal court on this matter, NCA is still entitled to know the factua 18 || allegations raised in order to effectively defend itself in this matter. NCA cannot do so withou 19 || first being informed of what statutes or provisions it allegedly violated, and how it □□□□□□□ 20 || violated these statutes or provisions. Consequently, this Court should require Plaintiff to file Complaint which adequately places NCA on notice as to the identity, nature, and underlying fact supporting his claims against NCA.

III. CONCLUSION 25 |} 9: For these reasons detailed above, this Court should grant NCA’s Motion for a Mor 26 || Definite Statement and require Plaintiff to file a complaint that properly places NCA on notice o 27 28

\ the claims alleged against it and that factual basis of those claims.

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Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. v. Lilith Games (Shanghai) Co.
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189 F.R.D. 575 (N.D. California, 1999)

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Chamberlin v. National Credit Adjusters, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chamberlin-v-national-credit-adjusters-llc-nvd-2022.