Decker v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 11, 2019
Docket1:17-cv-04152
StatusUnknown

This text of Decker v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC (Decker v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Decker v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC, (N.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

AMANDA DECKER,

Plaintiff, No. 17 CV 4152 v. Judge Manish S. Shah RECEIVABLES PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT, LLC,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER A satellite television company hired defendant Receivables Performance Management, LLC, to collect on a delinquent account belonging to plaintiff Amanda Decker. In the 150 days that followed, Receivables called Decker 297 times. They often called three times a day, mostly during the work week between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Whenever someone picked up (which may have occurred as few as six times), Receivables waited until the next day before resuming its calls. Receivables also says that it sent information about the underlying debt to the address Decker provided, but Decker says the address she gave was wrong and that she never received their communications. Her complaint alleges violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act. Receivables moves for summary judgment on all counts. I. Legal Standards Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party must show that, after “construing all facts, and drawing all reasonable inferences from those facts, in favor of the non-moving party,” United States v. P.H. Glatfelter Co., 768 F.3d 662, 668 (7th Cir. 2014), a reasonable jury could

not return a verdict for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). The moving party is also entitled to summary judgment where the “nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). II. Facts Decker signed up for satellite television with DishNetwork. [38] ¶ 1; [38-1] 35:3–7.1 As part of that process, she authorized DishNetwork (and “any debt

collection agency”) to call her cell phone. [38] ¶ 5. Within nine months, her account was delinquent, and DishNetwork assigned it to Receivables for collection. [38] ¶ 6.

1 Bracketed numbers refer to entries on the district court docket. Referenced page numbers are taken from the CM/ECF header placed at the top of filings, except in the case of citations to depositions, which use the deposition transcript’s original page number. The facts are largely taken from Decker’s Response to Receivables’s Local Rule 56.1 statement, [38], and Receivables’s Response to Decker’s Statement of Additional Material Facts, [41], where both the asserted fact and the opposing party’s response are set forth in one document. Arguments raised in the Local Rule 56.1 statements were disregarded, as were statements that were unsupported by admissible evidence (or where the party failed to follow Local Rule 56.1’s direction to cite to supporting material in the record). Receivables started calling Decker the next day. [38] ¶¶ 6, 25; [38-2] at 2. Between December 2016 and May 2017, Receivables called Decker at least 297 times. [38] ¶ 25. According to the call logs, the calls all took place between 11:00 a.m. and

8:00 p.m., and all but ten of them occurred during the work week. [38-2]. If Decker picked up, Receivables did not call her back again until the next day. [38] ¶ 30. On some days, no calls were made, and on at least one other, Receivables called Decker four times. [38] ¶ 26; [38-2] at 7 (March 23, 2017). Receivables often called Decker three times on the same weekday, and on twenty-two occasions, called twice within the same hour. [38-2]. See also [38] ¶ 29. Receivables says that six of those calls connected and that its agents were only twice able to confirm they were speaking

with Decker; Decker says their count is too low. [38] ¶¶ 33, 35. There is disagreement about what was said during the calls, too. First, according to Receivables, Decker never said she wanted the calls to stop. [38] ¶¶ 36, 52, 53. During her deposition, Receivables played Decker recordings from six calls and, after listening to those recordings, Decker confirmed that she never heard herself ask (or tell) the person on the other end of the line to stop calling. Id. ¶¶ 43–

48. Still, Decker says she asked Receivables to stop calling on six other occasions. Id. ¶ 6. [38-1] 146:1–11. Second, Receivables says they never used “false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt.” [38] ¶ 37. There is evidence in the record suggesting that Decker disagrees. Id.; [35-2] at 29. There is also disagreement over the address Receivables used to send Decker certain information about the underlying debt. Decker testified that, during a call on December 16, 2016, while she “wasn’t paying attention” and not “even listening,” she confirmed that her address was “6 Circle Drive, No. 6.” [38-1] 124:14–16. Decker testified that the same address was reflected in the satellite television company’s

record of Decker’s account. See [38-1] 43:23–44:4. Receivables says that, on December 17, it sent Decker information about her debt to “6 Circle Drive. #6, Effingham, Illinois.” [38] ¶ 11. The record contains a letter, dated December 17, 2016, addressed to “Decker, Amanda, 6 Circle Dr #6, Effingham, IL,” that includes the amount due ($467.66), the name of the “original creditor” (“DISH”), instructions for disputing the validity of the debt and information about how to contact Receivables and the original creditor. [35-3] at 22. See also [38] ¶ 14. Receivables says they sent Decker four other

written notices about the debt to the same address. [38] ¶¶ 15, 17, 19, 21; [35-3] at 32–39. Decker testified that, despite what she told Receivables, her address does not have an apartment number (i.e., her address is “6 Circle Drive, Effingham, Illinois”), [38-1] 105:6–107:11, that she had lived at that address for the three years before her deposition, [38-1] 22:9–11, and that she never received any documents from Receivables. [38] ¶ 13–15; [38-1] 35:17–20; 102:23–103:1.

Decker’s complaint alleges that the calls invaded her privacy, were a “nuisance” and caused “aggravation … , emotional distress, mental anguish, anxiety, [and] loss of concentration,” among other harms. [1] ¶ 23. In support of these allegations, Decker testified that the calls caused her to experience “anxiety and stress,” [38-1] 112:21–22, and anger, [38-1] 139:12–14, think something bad had happened to her grandmother (who was ill at the time), [38-1] 112:22–113:2, “go into panic mode,” [38-1] 116:17–23, and feel annoyed, abused and harassed. [38-1] 148:1– 11. On one call, Decker yelled, “fucking talk if you’re gonna call me 20 times a day.” [41] ¶ 6.

III. Analysis A. Withdrawal of Counts I and III Trial courts have broad discretion to dismiss an action “at the plaintiff’s request” and “on terms that the court considers proper,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2); Tyco Labs., Inc. v. Koppers Co., 627 F.2d 54, 56 (7th Cir. 1980); Mother & Father v. Cassidy, 338 F.3d 704, 709 (7th Cir. 2003); Chavez v.

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