Poitevint v. United Recovery Systems, LP

899 F. Supp. 2d 1230, 2012 WL 4458289, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137844
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 26, 2012
DocketCase No. 1:11-cv-00076-MP-GRJ
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 899 F. Supp. 2d 1230 (Poitevint v. United Recovery Systems, LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Poitevint v. United Recovery Systems, LP, 899 F. Supp. 2d 1230, 2012 WL 4458289, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137844 (N.D. Fla. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

MAURICE M. PAUL, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Doc. 44, a motion by defendant to strike certain affidavits, Doc. 33, the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and Doc. 34, the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. For the reasons discussed below, the motion to strike is granted in part and denied in part and the motions for summary judgment is denied.

In the instant case, plaintiff Ben Poitevint, Sr. (“Mr. Poitevint”) claims that United Recovery Systems (“Unitéd”) violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) by al[1234]*1234legedly making a number of phone calls to him, his daughter-in-law Judy Poitevint (“Ms. Poitevint”), and his sister in relation to collecting a debt allegedly owed by Mr. Poitevint.

The parties dispute the basic facts of the ease. Mr. Poitevint’s version of the facts is as follows. United, on behalf of Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A., initially began attempting to collect the debt by way of letters and phone calls directly to Mr. Poitevint, but subsequently began trying to get in touch with him by contacting members of his family. (Doc. 1 at 1-2). Mr. Poitevint claims that United made multiple calls to his sister in which United asked for his contact information. (Doc. 1 at 2). His sister was distressed by the calls and discussed them with her brother. (Doc. 1 at 2). After one such call, allegedly taking place on or about February 14, 2011, Mr. Poitevint telephoned United and asked that it stop calling his family members because it was upsetting them. (Doc. 1 at 2).

Mr. Poitevint also claims that United made multiple calls to his daughter-in-law, Judy Poitevint. (Doc. 1 at 2). One such call allegedly took place on February 16, 2011, despite his earlier instruction to United to stop calling his family. (Doc. 1 at 2). As a result, Mr. Poitevint called United on or about February 17 and again requested that it stop calling his family members. (Doc. 1 at 3). Ms. Poitevint claims that on February 23, she found a message on her phone recorder intended for Mr. Poitevint from United. (Doc. 1 at 3). On February 24, United again allegedly telephoned her in an attempt to get in touch with Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 1 at 3). During this call, Ms. Poitevint claims that United’s representative stated that she and United “ ‘had to make a decision’ ” about Mr. Poitevint, that “she had put off making her decision until she heard from him, but that since she still could not get in touch with him, she was going to ‘file her decision.’ ” (Doc. 1 at 3) (citing Exhibit D). Ms. Poitevint allegedly told United’s representative that Mr. Poitevint did not live there and requested that she stop calling her. (Doc. 1 at 3).

Mr. Poitevint further alleges that United continued to call him for many weeks thereafter. (Doc. 1 at 4). He claims that United “would often disguise its phone number, and also call from unknown numbers or from numbers that would not register on [his] caller ID.” (Doc. 1 at 4). He claims that he received such calls seven days a week, up to five or six times per day. (Doc. 1 at 4).

United’s version of the facts is significantly different. It claims to have placed only three calls, one each to three different numbers that it had on file for Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 9). These calls allegedly took place on February 8, February 14, and February 16, and thus do not conform with the dates given by Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 9). United claims that the recipient of the first call identified herself as Ms. Poitevint, the sister of Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 9). It claims that the recipient of the second call identified herself as Ms. Poitevint but did not describe her relationship to Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 9). Finally, United claims that the recipient of the third call did not identify herself but described herself as the daughter-in-law of Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 10). United claims that following these calls, it made no other calls to anyone other than Mr. Poitevint. (Doc. 33 at 9). United bases its claims partly on its account notes contained in Mr. Poitevint’s file. (Doc. 33 at 10). Account notes are records made by United employees each time they contact a debtor and reflect the date and subject matter of the communication. (Doc. 33 at 3).

[1235]*1235Eventually, Mr. Poitevint filed suit, alleging that United violated the FDCPA in three different ways and that United violated the FCCPA in one way. Doc. 1. Both sides moved for summary judgment (Docs. 33 and 34), and Mr. Poitevint submitted his own affidavit (Doc. 35, attach. 3) as well as one from Ms. Poitevint (Doc. 35, attach. 4) in support of his summary judgment motion. United then filed a motion to strike portions of each affidavit. Doc. 44. In the motion to strike, United asks this court to strike portions of those affidavits because they violate (1) the personal knowledge requirement of Fed.R.Evid. 602, (2) the hearsay rules of Rules 801-804, and the sham affidavit rule developed by case law.

Doc. 44, the Motion to Strike Affidavits of Ben Poitevint, Sr. and Judy Poitevint

According to Fed.R.Evid. 602, “[a] witness may testify to a matter only if evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter.” For a matter to be considered within a witness’s personal knowledge, it must be “derived from the exercise of his own senses, not from the reports of others — in other words, [it] must be founded on personal observation’ ” U.S. v. Evans, 484 F.2d 1178, 1181 (2nd Cir.1973) (quoting 2 Wigmore, Evidence, 3d ed. 1940, § 657).

Rule 801(c) of the Federal Rules of Evidence defines hearsay as “a statement that: (1) the declarant does not make while testifying at the current trial or hearing; and (2) a party offers in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.” Hearsay is inadmissible unless it qualifies under a variety of exceptions to the general rule. Fed. R. Ev. 802-04.

Finally, the “sham affidavit” rule provides that an affidavit can be disregarded if its conflict with other evidence in the case is so pronounced that the affidavit rises to the level of a sham. Generally, discrepancies between a witness’s affidavit and deposition do not defeat the admissibility of the affidavit, but instead go toward the credibility of the witness. Tippens v. Celotex Corp., 805 F.2d 949, 953-54 (11th Cir.1986). However, courts have recognized that “an affidavit can be disregarded when it constitutes a sham.” Id. at 953 (citing Van T. Junkins and Associates v. U.S. Industries, 736 F.2d 656 (11th Cir. 1984)). An affidavit should be disregarded as a sham only “ ‘when a party has given clear answers to unambiguous questions which negate the existence of any genuine issue of material fact ...

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899 F. Supp. 2d 1230, 2012 WL 4458289, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/poitevint-v-united-recovery-systems-lp-flnd-2012.