New v. Gemini Capital Group

859 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 1664069, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68350
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedMay 2, 2012
DocketNo. 4:10-cv-00560-HDV-CFB
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 859 F. Supp. 2d 990 (New v. Gemini Capital Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New v. Gemini Capital Group, 859 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 1664069, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68350 (S.D. Iowa 2012).

Opinion

RULING DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

HAROLD D. VIETOR, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Phillip New sues defendants Gemini Capital Group (Gemini) and Neimen, Stone & McCormick, P.C. (NSM) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a taking of his property without due process of law. He claims that defendants violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution by garnishing his bank account without providing sufficient post-garnishment notice. New also claims that this violated Article I, Section 9 of the Iowa Constitution. Additionally, New claims parallel violations of the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act (IDCPA), Iowa Code §§ 537.7103(1)(i) & (4), and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692(e)(2)(A) & (5), for wrongful debt collection practices.

Before the court is defendants’ motion for summary judgment. New resists. Because New claims that Iowa’s garnishment notice statute, Iowa Code § 642.14, is unconstitutional, the Iowa Attorney General was notified of the suit, but did not intervene. Oral argument was heard April 12, 2012. The motion is fully submitted.

MOTION STANDARDS

Summary judgment is properly granted only when the record, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a); Walsh v. United States, 31 F.3d 696, 698 (8th Cir.1994). The moving party must establish its right to judgment with such clarity there is no room for controversy. Jewson v. Mayo Clinic, 691 F.2d 405, 408 (8th Cir.1982). “[T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue is “genuine” if the evidence is sufficient to persuade a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the non-moving party. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. “As to materiality, the substantive law will identify which facts are material.... Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted.” Id.

At the summary judgment stage, the district court should not weigh the evidence, make credibility determinations, or attempt to determine the truth of the matter. Id. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Instead, the court’s function is to determine whether a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party based on the evidence. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in the nonmovant’s favor. Quick v. Donaldson Co., 90 F.3d 1372, 1377 (8th Cir.1996). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); see Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557, 129 S.Ct. 2658, 2677, 174 L.Ed.2d 490 (2009).

BACKGROUND FACTS

Gemini is a debt collector and, with its law firm NSM, reduced New’s Sears credit [993]*993card debt to judgment in Iowa District Court, Small Claims Division. In that court, New argued that the debt was time-barred, but he lost on that issue. After also losing his appeal to the district court, New did not file a bond to stay execution of the judgment. Defendants then filed documents with the Clerk of the Iowa District Court in and for Story County and the Story County Sheriff to garnish the funds in New’s Wells Fargo bank account. The clerk of court and the sheriff attached and held those funds pending condemnation proceedings.

New did not receive notice of the garnishment from defendants, the sheriff, or the clerk of court. The Iowa garnishment notice statute, Iowa Code § 642.14, provides as follows: “Judgment against the garnishee shall not be entered until the principal defendant has had ten days’ notice of the garnishment proceedings, to be served in the same manner as original notices.... ” Iowa Code § 642.14. Although neither party cites it, Iowa Code § 642.15 provides that judgment debtors may file a petition in the garnishment proceeding seeking to show that the garnished funds are exempt from execution. Neither section, however, requires that notice of the garnishment go to the judgment debt- or unless the judgment creditor seeks to condemn the garnished funds. Additionally, judgment debtors are not notified that some property or funds may be exempt from garnishment. Finally, no notice is provided judgment debtors that a hearing is available to claim exemptions. New’s funds were garnished, but defendants never sought to have them condemned, so notice was not provided to him by defendants or state officials.

New appealed the main action to the Iowa Court of Appeals, which reversed the district court. Gemini Capital Group v. New, 807 N.W.2d 157, 2011 WL 3925723 at *3 (Iowa Ct.App. Sept. 8, 2011) (unpublished decision). The court of appeals noted that Gemini did not submit sufficient evidence of a signed, written account agreement. Id. To be entitled to a ten-year statute of limitations for a written agreement, the court required that each essential element of the account agreement be in writing. Id. Because Gemini did not produce a written promise from New to pay, the court concluded that the ten-year statute of limitations did not apply. Id. Gemini brought its claim outside of the applicable five-year statute of limitations, and the court of appeals reversed the district court. Id.

New filed a motion in the district court to vacate the judgment underlying his garnishment. As of December 6, 2011, his funds had not been released. Defendants allege that they contacted the sheriff to have the funds released, but the funds had been remitted to the clerk of court. Defendants contend that New has done nothing else to get the funds back.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
859 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2012 WL 1664069, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-v-gemini-capital-group-iasd-2012.