Harlan v. Transworld Systems, Inc.

302 F.R.D. 319, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125633, 2014 WL 4435395
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 9, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-5882
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 302 F.R.D. 319 (Harlan v. Transworld Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harlan v. Transworld Systems, Inc., 302 F.R.D. 319, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125633, 2014 WL 4435395 (E.D. Pa. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

PRATTER, District Judge.

Denise Harlan, on behalf of herself and a putative class, sued Transworld Systems, Inc., also known as North Shore Agency, Inc. (“North Shore”), for North Shore’s alleged violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p. Ms. Harlan alleges that North Shore violated a provision of the FDCPA that requires debt collectors to provide recipients of certain debt collection communications notice of their “validation rights,” or rights to challenge the claimed debt combined with information about how to do so, see id. § 1692g(a). Ms. Harlan and North Shore have reached a settlement agreement and now seek this Court’s preliminary approval and class certification (“Settlement Agreement,” Docket No. 25-3).

The parties’ dispute, described and analyzed in detail in the Court’s April 14, 2014 Amended Memorandum (“April 14, 2014 Memorandum,” Docket No. 14), available at Harlan v. Transworld Systems, Inc., No. 13-5882, 2014 WL 1414508 (E.D.Pa. Apr. 14, 2014), concerns North Shore’s mailing of a particular form collection letter (“Subject Letter”) to Ms. Harlan and, according to North Shore, approximately 222 others with addresses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The notice of validation rights was printed on the reverse side of the Subject Letter and was, Ms. Harlan alleges, inconspicuous and therefore in violation of the FDCPA The Court agreed with Ms. Harlan, denied North Shore’s motion to dismiss, see id., and set case deadlines. North Shore vigorously continued to argue that the notice of validation rights in the Subject Letter was adequate under the FDCPA and moved for reconsideration or, alternatively, interlocutory appeal (see Docket No. 17). When the Court denied that motion and reaffirmed its holding (see Docket No. 21), the parties, still hotly disputing whether North Shore violated the FDCPA but “wish[ing] to avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation,” Settlement Agreement pmbl., at 2, entered into fruitful settlement negotiations.

Because it resolves the rights of absent parties, a settlement of a class action is not effective until approved by a court after “notice in a reasonable manner to all class members who would be bound by the proposal,” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e)(1); see, e.g., In re Pet Food Prods. Liab. Litig., 629 F.3d 333, 349-50 (3d Cir.2010), and “only after a hearing and on finding that it is fair, reasonable, and adequate,” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e)(2).1 If the reviewing court has not yet certified the class, it also “must determine by order” whether to do so. Id. 23(c)(1). If the court concludes that the class should be preliminarily certified for purposes of the settlement, it must direct that members of the potential class be given the opportunity to request to be excluded, so that, for example, they may be able to pursue claims individually without being bound by the proposed settlement agreement. See id. 23(b)(2)(B)(vi), (e)(4).

[323]*323After considering Ms. Harlan’s Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement (“Mot.”; Docket No. 25) and a hearing on September 2, 2014, and for the reasons set out below, the Court concludes that the class should be preliminarily certified and the Settlement Agreement preliminarily approved, subject to a final fairness hearing.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In its April 14, 2014 Memorandum, the Court concluded that the Subject Letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Instead of restating those facts and conclusions here, the Court incorporates the April 14, 2014 Memorandum (Docket No. 14) and May 16, 2014 Order denying reconsideration (Docket No. 21) by reference, see Harlan, 2014 WL 1414508.2

The proposed Settlement Agreement defines the Subject Letter as

a letter sent by [North Shore] in substantially the form of the [North Shore] letter dated October 12, 2012, attached to Plaintiffs complaint as Exhibit A, where the letter was the initial communication from [North Shore] in which the statutory section 1692 validation notice was printed on the reverse side of the letter in [a]n uppercase and lowercase type, among paragraphs which were not indented or spaced, and placed a[m]ong other copy that was capitalized, and the phrase “NOTICE-SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION” in all capital letters was on the front of the letter.

Settlement Agreement ¶ 1(C).

The Settlement Agreement proposes a settlement class consisting of Ms. Harlan and those others who, according to North Shore’s records, have “addresses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania” and “were sent the Subject Letter where the underlying debt was incurred primarily for personal, family or household use, where the letter(s) bear a date from October 12, 2012 to October 4, 2013”3 (“Settlement Class” or “Class”) — approximately 223 individuals in all. Settlement Agreement ¶ 1(D). The Settlement Agreement would resolve, as between North Shore and the Settlement Class members,

any and all claims, causes of action, suits, obligations, debts, demands, agreements, promises, liabilities, damages, losses, controversies, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees of any nature whatsoever, whether based on any federal law (including the FDCPA), state law, common law, or any other type or form (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise, including statutory, common law, property, and equitable claims), which Plaintiff or any Pennsylvania Class Member has arising out of the Subject Letter, including, but not limited to ... [c]laims arising out of the content of the Subject Letter.

Settlement Agreement ¶ 1(E) (this definition); see id. ¶ 14 (provision releasing North Shore from liability). In exchange for this release, North Shore would agree to:

• Establish a $22,200.00 settlement fund (hereinafter, “Settlement Amount”) from which each Class member will receive a $100 cheek by U.S. mail. Settlement Agreement ¶ 15(A), (B).4
• Award any remainder of the $22,200 (whether from uncashed settlement cheeks or Class members who cannot be located) cy pres to Clarifi, a nonprofit organization dedicated to financial literacy in the Delaware Valley.5 Settlement Agreement ¶ 15(C).
• Pay Ms. Harlan, separate and apart from her $100 award as a Class member and without reducing the Settlement Amount, an individual settlement sum of $1,000, consistent with 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(2)(B)(i),6 and an additional [324]*324$1,000 incentive payment. Settlement Agreement ¶ 15(D).
• Again without reducing the Settlement Amount, pay the costs of notice to the Class and administration of the Settlement Amount. Settlement Agreement ¶ 6.

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Bluebook (online)
302 F.R.D. 319, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125633, 2014 WL 4435395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harlan-v-transworld-systems-inc-paed-2014.