Gomez v. Resurgent Capital Services, LP

129 F. Supp. 3d 147, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127721, 2015 WL 5610741
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 22, 2015
DocketNo. 13 Civ. 7395(RWS)
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 129 F. Supp. 3d 147 (Gomez v. Resurgent Capital Services, LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gomez v. Resurgent Capital Services, LP, 129 F. Supp. 3d 147, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127721, 2015 WL 5610741 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Two duelling motions for summary judgment are currently- pending before the Court in this unfair debt collection practices case: one filed by Defendants Resurgent Capital Services, LP (“Resurgent’’) and LVNV Funding, LLC (“LVNV,” collectively with Resurgent, the “Resurgent Defendants” or the “Defendants”) seeking dismissal of the complaint filed-by Plaintiff Carmen Gomez (“Gomez” or the “Plaintiff’), and one filed by Gomez seeking summary judgment on liability against the Resurgent Defendants, with proceedings to continue regarding the amount of damages. (Dkt. Nos. 57. & 79.), Also pending is. Resurgent’s motion, for a. protective order covering certain documents submitted by Gomez in her summary judgment briefing. (Dkt. No. 97.) For the reasons stated below, both summary judgment motions are granted in part and, denied in part, and the motion for a protective order ds granted. ,, , .

Prior Proceedings

Gomez brought this casé on October 18, 2013, filing a complaint against former defendants Inovision-Medelr • Portfolio [150]*150Group, LLC; Peter T. Roach & Associates, P.C.; Kirschenbaum, Phillips & Roach, P.C.; Timothy Murtha; NCO Financial Systems, Inc., and the two remaining defendants, LVNV Funding, LLC and Resurgent Capital Services, LP. (Dkt. No. 1.) The Complaint alleged that the defendants had engaged in abusive debt collection practices in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (the “FDCPA”), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq., New York General Business Law § 349, and New York Judiciary Law § 487.1 (See generally id.)

On January 14, 2014, defendants Inovision-Medclr Portfolio Group, LLC and NCO Financial Systems, Inc. made Gomez an offer of judgment pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 68, which Gomez accepted two weeks later. (See Dkt. No. 22.) The Court dismissed those two defendants on June 5, 2014. (Dkt. No. 33.) In March of 2014, the parties agreed to a Protective Order governing the treatment of confidential information, which the Court approved on June 25, 2014. (Dkt. No. 41.) On January 13, 2015, Gomez dismissed her claims against defendants Peter T. Roach and Associates, P.C.; Kirschenabaum & Phillips, P.C.; and Timothy Murtha pursuant to a settlement agreement. (Dkt. Nos. 68 & 70.)

The Resurgent Defendants filed their motion for summary judgment on December 30, 2014. (Dkt.Nos.56-62.) Gomez filed her opposition papers on January 24, 2015 (Dkt.Nos.72-75), and then filed her own motion for partial summary judgment five days later. (Dkt.Nos.79-83.) The Resurgent Defendants filed papers on February 18, 2015 replying to Gomez’ opposition to its summary judgment motion and opposing the one she filed. (Dkt. No. 87-88.) Gomez filed her reply brief in support of her summary judgment motion on March 5, 2015 (Dkt. No. 92), and the Resurgent Defendants filed a sur-reply on March 26, 2015. (Dkt. No. 96.) The motion was head on submission on March 4, 2015. (See Dkt. No. 86.)

The Resurgent Defendants filed their motion for a protective order on March 26, 2015. (Dkt. No. 97-99.) Gomez filed her opposition on April 9 (Dkt. No. 102) and Resurgent filed its reply on April 13. (Dkt. No. 103.)

The Facts

The facts are set forth in the parties’ various Rule 56.1 Statements (Dkt. Nos. 61, 75, 82, & 88) and are not in dispute except as noted below.

The events that gave rise to this case began on September 12, 2005, when Mel S. Harris and Associates, LLC filed a lawsuit against Gomez, seeking to collect a debt she had allegedly incurred to Chase Bank, U.S.A., N.A (“Chase”), which was later assigned to Inovision-Medclr Portfolio Group, LLC (“Inovision”). The parties dispute whether Gomez was ever served; an affidavit of .service says -that she was served on September 28, 2005, but Gomez states that she never received notice of the lawsuit and speculates that she may have been the victim of “sewer service.” Either way, it is undisputed that Gomez did not appear in the suit, and a default judgment was entered against her.

The history of the alleged debt is a tangled one, Gomez admits that she had an .account with Chase, but maintains that she ceased using it in or before 1995, [151]*151rendering the validity of any action regarding it in 2005 dubious. Although the lawsuit regarding the debt was brought by Inovision, Gomez questions whether Chase ever sold that account to anyone and states that there is no evidence that title to the account ever passed from Chase to Inovision. Defendants state that Inovision sold Gomez’ debt to Sherman Originator III, LLC (“Sherman”), a nonparty to this case, and that Sherman transferred the debt to defendant LVNV Funding,' LLC (“LVNV”). Gomez questions whether the alleged paperwork of those sales,'which covers an unknown number of accounts, actually includes hers, since they make fío specific mention of her. She also states that she never received any notice that her debts had been assigned and argues that any attempt to collect the debts is therefore invalid.

Defendants utilized a chain of entities to collect Gomez’ debt. LVNV had a contractual relationship with Resurgent, its “master servicer.” Resurgent then hired the law firm of Eltman, Eltman and Cooper, P.C. (“EEC”) to collect on the judgment against Gomez. EEC in turn retained Peter T. Roach and Associates, P.C. (together with successor firm Kirschenbaum, Phillips & Roach, P.C., “Roach”) to collect on the judgment. Roach employed former defendant Timothy Murtha (“Murtha”) as an attorney to handle the case. Roach also used another corporation, Global Connect, to make automated calls.

On or around October 19, 2012, Murtha signed an information subpoena and restraining notice to, be sent , to Municipal Credit Union, Gomez’ bank, seeking to enforce the judgment against her. The parties differ on how much attention Murtha put into., the notice. Gomez cites Murtha’s deposition from another civil lawsuit involving Roach, in which he estimated he signed approximately 400 postjudgment enforcement documents per week, and alleges that Murtha “robo-signed” her notice without actually reviewing its merits. Defendants note that in this case Murtha testified that he executes 'approximately two and a half postjudgment execution devices per work day, and contend that he did not “robo-sign” the document.

MCU sent a copy of the restraining notice to Gomez on November 7, 2012. On December 5, 2012, Gomez sent a letter to Roach saying that she had no knowledge of the debt, stating that the statute of limitations on the debt'had expired, and requesting proof of the debt. She also requested not to be called on her cellular phone. On December 11, 2012, Roach sent Gomez a letter seeking to collect a judgment of $2,366.46, plus interest at a rate of 9 percent annually, amounting to $3,864.91 in total. The check was to be made payable to Roach.

During this time, Gomez'states that she continued receiving debt collection phone calls.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 F. Supp. 3d 147, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127721, 2015 WL 5610741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gomez-v-resurgent-capital-services-lp-nysd-2015.