Ramirez v. Palisades Collection LLC

250 F.R.D. 366, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24921, 2008 WL 835694
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 28, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 07 C 3840
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 250 F.R.D. 366 (Ramirez v. Palisades Collection LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ramirez v. Palisades Collection LLC, 250 F.R.D. 366, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24921, 2008 WL 835694 (N.D. Ill. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SUZANNE B. CONLON, District Judge.

Rosalia Ramirez brings a putative class action against Palisades Collection, LLC (“Palisades”), alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e(2), (5), (10) and 1692f. After amending her complaint, Ramirez brings an amended motion for class certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. For the reasons below, the motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

Ramirez alleges Palisades violated the FDCPA by suing Illinois debtors on time-barred debts. In Illinois, a plaintiff has 10 years to sue for violation of a written contract and five years to sue for violation of an unwritten contract.1 735 ILCS 5/13-206; [368]*368735 ILCS 5/13-205. A plaintiff suing for violation of a written contract must attach that contract to its complaint; if it does not, the contract is considered unwritten. 735 ILCS 5/2-606; Barnes v. Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co., 103 Ill.App.2d 425, 428, 243 N.E.2d 855, 857 (1968); O.K Elec. Co. v. Fernandes, 111 Ill.App.3d 466, 67 Ill.Dec.225, 444 N.E.2d 264, 267 (1982). Ramirez alleges that, on November 20, 2006, PaUsades sued her to collect credit card debt it had purchased from Household Bank. She claims PaUsades failed to attach a copy of the contract to its complaint, rendering the collection action subject to the five-year limitations period for unwritten contracts. She argues the collection case was time-barred because the charge-off date and date of last payment for her account occurred more than five years earlier. PaUsades voluntarily dismissed its suit against Ramirez on April 10, 2007.

Ramirez alleges PaUsades regularly brings time-barred suits against Illinois consumers, hoping for default judgments against them. More specifically, Ramirez complains that PaUsades files time-barred lawsuits in the hope that consumers will not realize that they have limitation defenses and will not be able to find lawyers to represent them. She contends this practice violates the FDCPA.

Ramirez previously sought certification of a proposed class defined as:

(a) all individuals with Illinois addresses,
(b) against whom [PaUsades] filed suit on a credit card debt originated by Household Bank (e) where both the date of charge-off and the date of last payment, as shown by [Palisades’] records, were more than five years prior to the date of fiUng, (d) where the lawsuit was filed or served on or after a date 12 months prior to the filing of this action and prior to a date 20 days after filing of this action, and (e) [where PaU-sades] cannot produce [the] written contract [it sued upon] signed by both the original creditor and the putative debtor.

This court denied without prejudice Ramirez’s motion because the class definition required an exhaustive, individuaUzed inquiry into whether PaUsades can presently find, in its own files or those of another entity, a written contract to exclude a debtor from the class. Ramirez v. Palisades Collection LLC, No. 07 C 3840, 2007 WL 4335293, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Dec. 5, 2007) (“Ramirez 7”). In order to cure this deficiency, Ramirez amended subpart (e) of its class- definition to read as follows:

(a) all individuals with Illinois addresses,
(b) against whom [PaUsades] filed suit on a credit card debt originated by Household Bank (c) where both the date of charge-off and the date of last payment, as shown by [PaUsades’] records, were more than five years prior to the date of fiUng, (d) where the lawsuit was filed or served on or after July 9, 2006 (one year before the filing of this action) and prior to July 29, 2007 (20 days after the fiUng of this action), and (e) [where PaUsades] did not attach to the complaint a written contract signed by both the original creditor and the putative debtor.

Am. Compl. II25. Ramirez alleges this amended class definition is now objectively identifiable and describes in excess of 1, 200 people. Id. at 1126. Ramirez again moves to certify the proposed class pursuant to Fed. R. Civ.P. 23.

DISCUSSION

I. Legal Standards

A. Class Certification

The court has broad discretion whether to certify a proposed class, and the proponent bears the burden of showing that certification is warranted. Hyderi v. Washington Mutual Bank, FA, 235 F.R.D. 390, 394 (N.D.Ill.2006) (Filip, J.). A court will certify a proposed class only if plaintiff satisfies all requirements of Rule 23(a) and at least one of the conditions enumerated in Rule 23(b). Id. at 395. The class must be sufficiently well defined to satisfy Rule 23. Oshana v. Coca-Cola Co., 225 F.R.D. 575, 580 (N.D.Ill.2005) (Conlon, J.), aff'd, 472 F.3d 506 (7th Cir.2006), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 127 S. Ct. 2952, 168 L.Ed.2d 264 (2007). A court should not analyze the merits of a claim in deciding whether to certify a class, but it may “prob[e] behind the pleadings” to deter[369]*369mine whether the named plaintiffs claims fairly encompass those of the class she seeks to represent. See Hyderi, 235 F.R.D. at 395; see also General Tel. Co. of the Southwest v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 160, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982); Szabo v. Bridgeport Machines, Inc., 249 F.3d 672, 675-76 (7th Cir. 2001). The court does not “talismanically accept” plaintiffs’ factual allegations as true when determining certification. Hyderi, 235 F.R.D. at 395. A class action should be certified only if the court is satisfied “after a rigorous analysis” that Rule 23 is met. Id. (quoting Falcon, 457 U.S, at 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364),

B. FDCPA

The FDCPA prohibits use of “false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692e. Section 1692e explicitly outlaws “[t]he false representation of the character, amount, or legal status of any debt,” “[t]he threat to take action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken,” and “[t]he use of any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt ----” 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e(2)(A), (5), (10).

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Bluebook (online)
250 F.R.D. 366, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24921, 2008 WL 835694, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ramirez-v-palisades-collection-llc-ilnd-2008.