Dionte Tyler v. DH Capital Management, Inc.

736 F.3d 455, 86 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1772, 2013 WL 5942072, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 22562
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided November 7, 2013·No. 13-5021·Unknown·Cited by 75 cases

Opinion

AMENDED OPINION

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

Dionte Tyler brought this action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Kentucky’s usury laws, alleging that the debt-collection action instituted by DH Capital Management (DHC) sought to collect an amount to which DHC was not legally entitled. The district court dismissed the suit, because it was procedurally barred as not having been raised previously as a counterclaim, and because Tyler’s bankruptcy trustee, not Tyler, was the proper party in interest. This appeal raises various issues of procedural timing, which arise out of an unusual order of events caused by the interaction between DHC’s collection suit and Tyler’s declaration of bankruptcy. In particular, we must answer 1) whether Tyler’s suit is barred for failure to raise his claims as counterclaims in the original debt-collection action, during the brief period before it was voluntarily dismissed and 2) whether Tyler’s suit is a pre-petition cause of action that only his bankruptcy trustee has authority to pursue. We find that the district court erred in holding that Tyler’s claim was barred under res judicata principles, but agree that Tyler’s claim is based on a pre-petition violation and thus is property of the bankruptcy estate. As a result, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

*458 I

By 2009, Tyler had accumulated $1,041.89 of debt on his Chase Bank credit card. On October 14, 2010, Chase Bank assigned the debt to Turtle Creek Assets, LTD. Turtle Creek assigned Tyler’s debt, along with 200 other accounts, to DHC on October 26, 2010. On March 23, 2011, DHC filed suit against Plaintiff in state court in Jefferson County, Kentucky, seeking collection of the debt, plus 21 % interest from February 27, 2009, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The complaint was not yet served.

Tyler filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 28, 2011, three months after the debt-collection suit was filed. Because Tyler had not yet been notified of DHC’s debt-collection suit or served with process, Tyler did not list this suit as debt or his potential FDCPA counterclaims as assets on the original bankruptcy schedules. It is unclear whether the debt to Chase Bank was listed in his original schedules; while Tyler did list a debt owed on a Chase Bank credit card (of “Unknown” amount), DHC asserts that the account number for the debt it holds is different. Electronic notice of that debt was provided to Chase, although there is no record of involvement by Chase in the bankruptcy proceeding. No further amendments were made to the schedules indicating the amount of the unknown debt, and Tyler was granted a discharge on October 4, 2011.

Eight days later, on October 12, DHC served process on Tyler in the debt-collection action. On October 18, DHC filed a voluntary Notice of Dismissal without prejudice after it learned of Tyler’s bankruptcy. On October 20, Tyler filed his answer, denying all allegations. As affirmative defenses, he asserted that the claim was stale, that the account was non-existent, and provisionally any other defenses “to be determined during [] discovery.” On October 26, the court entered DHC’s Notice of Dismissal, dismissing the case without prejudice. On March 9, 2012, Tyler filed the instant case, a class action that alleged violations of the FDCPA and Kentucky’s usury laws. In particular, he alleged that the 21 % interest rate sought was usurious 1 and that DHC was not entitled to collect attorney’s fees or interest before the date of acquiring the debt, since DHC was only assigned a right to the receivables, not the underlying contract.

DHC subsequently filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the claims were barred by Tyler’s failure to present them as counterclaims in the prior state-court action, and that Tyler had no standing because the cause of action was property of the bankruptcy estate. The district court granted the motion on both grounds, finding that 1) Tyler “elected to forego filing compulsory counterclaims” and 2) that Tyler’s claims were “rooted in the allegations in DHC’s state court complaint” and thus *459 part of the bankruptcy estate. In the alternative, the district court held that because Tyler failed to amend his bankruptcy forms to include the collection suit, his claims belonged to the bankruptcy trustee. Tyler appeals.

II

We review de novo a dismissal for. failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Estate of Barney v. PNC Bank, N.A., 714 F.3d 920, 924 (6th Cir.2013). On review, we “accept all allegations in the complaint as true” and “determine whether the allegations plausibly state a claim for relief.” Roberts v. Hamer, 655 F.3d 578, 581 (6th Cir.2011).

The district court dismissed Tyler’s claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13, reasoning that they were compulsory counterclaims that Tyler failed to assert in DHC’s collection suit. Rule 13(a) provides that a responsive pleading “must” assert a compulsory counterclaim; a compulsory counterclaim that “is not brought is thereafter barred.” Baker v. Gold Seal Liquors, Inc., 417 U.S. 467, 469 n. 1, 94 S.Ct. 2504, 41 L.Ed.2d 243 (1974). Tyler argues that, in a case voluntarily dismissed without prejudice, unraised compulsory counterclaims should not be subsequently barred. 2 Although there will be situations where such claims are barred, on the facts in this case Tyler’s claims can go forward. There are a few reasons why this is so, but in essence the case had not proceeded to a sufficiently advanced stage to warrant application of the bar.

A

First, as DHC filed a notice of dismissal “before service by the adverse party of an answer,” the claim could be dismissed “without order of court.” Ky. R. Civ. P. 41.01(1). Under the terms of Federal Rule IS, a compulsory counterclaim is asserted in a “pleading.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 13(a)(1). Where.the adverse party has no opportunity to file a pleading, it has no opportunity to assert its counterclaim, and thus its claim will not be barred. This rule applies more broadly than just to voluntary dismissals: a party is not required to assert a counterclaim where it successfully files a pre-answer motion to dismiss. United States v. Snider, 779 F.2d 1151, 1157. (6th Cir.1985). “Without a valid claim there can be no counterclaim, compulsory or permissive.” Ibid.

Nevertheless, the district court reasoned that the “timing of Tyler’s responsive pleading is immaterial.” The court pointed to Tyler’s failure to present his claims at any relevant time- and explained that under Kentucky Rule 13.09 counterclaims may survive dismissal of the opposing party’s claims.

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Dionte Tyler v. DH Capital Management, Inc., 736 F.3d 455, 86 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1772, 2013 WL 5942072, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 22562 (6th Cir. 2013).

736 F.3d 455 (Dionte Tyler v. DH Capital Management, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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