Hudson v. Babilonia

192 F. Supp. 3d 274, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77016, 2016 WL 3264150
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJune 14, 2016
DocketNo. 3:14-cv-01646 (MPS)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 192 F. Supp. 3d 274 (Hudson v. Babilonia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hudson v. Babilonia, 192 F. Supp. 3d 274, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77016, 2016 WL 3264150 (D. Conn. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER .

Michael P, Shea, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs Charles Hudson and Aleeshia Bailey Hudson assert claims under various consumér protection laws against Aisha Babilonia, SLM Corporation (now Navient Corporation (“Navient Corp.”)), Sallie Mae Bank, Sallie Mae, Inc. (now Navient Solutions, Inc. (“NSI”)), and PFS/Progressive Financial Services, Inc. (“Progressive”) arising from the theft of Mr. Hudson’s identity, the use-of his identity to obtain a .student loan, and- efforts to collect a delinquency on that loan. Navient Corp.,,Sallie Mae Bank, and NSI, whom .together I refer to as the “Navient Defendants,” have filed a motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 102), and Progressive has filed a separate motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 95). In both motions, the defendants seek summary judgment on. all counts. For the reasons explained below, I grant in part and deny in part both motions.1 .

[280]*280I. Facts

A. Undisputed Facts

The following facts are undisputed according to the parties’ Local Rule 56(a) statements.2 Charles Hudson and Aleeshia Bailey Hudson live in Windsor, Connecticut. (Bailey Hudson Dep., Pis.’ Mem. Opp. Ex. 5 at 27.) They do not own or rent property in Brooklyn, Néw York. (C. Hudson Dep., Pis'.’ MSJ Mem. Opp. Ex. 4, at 19.) They carry their own cell phones and do not answer each other’s phone. (Id. at 44.)

Between April 6 and 10, 2012, Defendant Aisha Babilonia completed an online application for a “Smart Option Student Loan” in the amount of $15,000 with NSI.3 (Correspondence History, Austin Aff. Ex. A, ECF No. 102-3, at NAV00047-62.) The application listed Mr. Hudson as a cosigner. (See Austin Aff. Ex B., ECF No. 102-3, at 42.) After receiving the application, NSI obtained Mr. Hudson’s credit report on April 6, 2012. (Correspondence History, Pis.’ MSJ Opp. Ex. 1, at NAV000074.) NSI approved and disbursed $15,000 to Babilo-nia on June 5, 2012, (Austin Aff. ¶¶ 15, 23.)

1. NSI Contacts Mr. Hudson Regarding the Babilonia Loan

In December 2013, the Babilonia loan was delinquent. (Id. at ¶ 25.) In an effort to obtain payment on the loan, NSI again obtained Mr. Hudson’s credit report on January 2, 2014. (Id. at ¶ 26.) An NSI representative named Kenn also called Mr. Hudson on January 8, 2014. (Id. at ¶ 22.)

The following conversation ensued:

Mr. Hudson: This is Charles.
Kenn: This is Charles Hudson?
Mr. Hudson: Yes.
Kenn: .Hi, sir, my name is Kenn. I was trying to contact you. J’m actually an account manager, I’m calling for Sallie Mae. This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.
You’re a cosigner with Aisha, right? Mr. Hudson: Yeah.
[[Image here]]
Kenn: Okay. Thank you, sir. I do have a mailing address 1436 Park Place; is that accurate?
Mr. Hudson: Say that again, I’m sorry.
[[Image here]]
Kenn: I had a mailing address 1436 Park Place? Is that a correct mailing address?
Mr. Hudson: 436 Park Place in what town?
Kenn: 1436 Park Place in Booklyn.
Mr. Hudson: Oh, okay, yeah. -
[[Image here]]
Kenn: And the reason again for the call is that we do have a student loan, unfortunately is it in our high risk unit right now, it’s been behind a few months. To bring that ‘ completely current we do cur[281]*281rently have a present amount of 1,473.56. Did you want to bring that current this month?
Mr. Hudson: Okay. Hold on one second.
Kenn: Sure.
. Mr. Hudson: I’ve .got to take my ear piece off, because I’m on the road., Did you sp[eak] to Al[eeshi]a,4 be- , cause she’s going to take .care of that.
Kenn: Well, that’s what I had assumed since she is the principal borrower on the account, but the last time we had contact with her was back in August. She’s kind of let the account here linger into delinquency, and at this point if we can’t get any arrangement on the account, they’re looking at a possible litigation on the account here.
Mr. Hudson: Okay.
Kenn: The last time we spoke to her she said she was unemployed. I don’t know what her status is right now, but that was in August.
Mr. Hudson: Yes, yes, she is. Let me contact her and see if I can get in touch wit her here, because she handled that. Right now I’m on the road.
[[Image here]]
Kenn: Has she updated the status with you here? Has she spoken to you about this at all?
Mr. Hudson: No, she hasn’t spoken to me about it.

(January 8, 2014 Call Tr., Austin Aff. Ex. I, ECF No. 102-4, at 29-31; see also Austin Aff. Ex. H (audio recording).)

The same day, Ms. Hudson called NSI, and informed Kenn that her husband had not, in fact, cosigned any student loan. (Bailey Hudson Dep., Navient MSJ Ex. 3, ECF No. 102-7, at 7-8.) Mr. Hudson called Kenn on January 13, 2014, and confirmed that he had never cosigned a student loan. (January 13, 2014 Call Tr., ECF No. 56-2.) During that call, Mr. Hudson also informed Kenn that 1436 Park Place was not his address, provided Kenn with his Windsor, Connecticut address, and told Kenn that the Connecticut address NSI had in its file was his mother’s address. (Id, at 2-4.) Mr. Hudson also told Kenn that he did not know any Aisha Babilonia, and that when they spoke on January 8, the only reason he suggested that he knew of the loan was that he thought Kenn was referring to his wife, Aleeshia. (Id. at 4.) Kenn then gave Mr. Hudson the following instructions:

What you want to do to proceed further before this month ends, because the account here is going to roll into default. Unfortunately we do not have all of your information, so it is going to affect your credit. What you want to try to do right away is go to the nearest police department and file charges on this, because what I’ll do is I can put it in as fraud, and when the fraud department calls you to ask you if you signed for the loan and tell them no, they’re going to look for a police report. So you want to try to file charges against this person because if you don’t know who this is, then your information' is here on the account along with your signatures regarding this loan.

(Id. at 4-5.) Mr. Hudson asked Kenn what phone number was provided with the loan application, and Kenn responded with a phone number that Mr. Hudson stated he [282]*282did not recognize. (Id. at 5.) Mr. Hudson also asked how NSI found Mr. Hudson’s actual phone number, to which Kenn responded, “this number here [referring to Mr. Hudson’s cell phone number], I actually had to search to find this number, this wasn’t even on the account. That other number [that Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
192 F. Supp. 3d 274, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77016, 2016 WL 3264150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-babilonia-ctd-2016.