RANKIN v. SALDUTTI, LLC

District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided January 17, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-01508·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

DAVID RANKIN, et al., Plains, CIVIL ACTION v. NO. 19-1508 SALDUTTI, LLC, et al., Defendants.

OPINION Slomsky, J. January 17, 2020 I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs David and Dina Rankin (“Plaintiffs”) bring this suit against Defendants Saldutti, LLC a/k/a Saldutti Law, LLC a/k/a Saldutti Law Group, William F. Saldutti, III, Robert L. Saldutti (collectively, “the Saldutti Defendants”),! and Defendant Customers Bank (“Customers Bank”). On April 9, 2019, they initiated this case by filing a Class Action Complaint against Defendants containing two Counts. Count I is a claim against the Saldutti Defendants pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (““FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq.; Count II is a claim against Customers Bank pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. On June 24, 2019, Customers Bank filed the present Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. No. 13.) On July 22, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a Response in Opposition to Customers Bank’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 16), and on July 29, 2019, Customers Bank filed a Reply in Support of its Motion (Doc. No. 21). On August 28, 2019, the Court held a hearing on the Motion.

! The Saldutti Defendants filed an Answer to the Complaint with Affirmative Defenses on June 17, 2019. (Doc. No. 12.)

The Motion to Dismiss is now ripe for disposition. For reasons discussed infra, Customers Bank’s Motion to Dismiss will be granted. II. BACKGROUND? Plaintiffs allege that they took out a personal loan with Customers Bank for $10,000 in 2006. (Doc. No. 1 § 14.) The balance was paid down to approximately $2,700 before Plaintiffs defaulted on the loan. (Id. 4 15.) The Saldutti Defendants were engaged by Customers Bank to collect on the loan and, on November 15, 2011, obtained a judgment against Plaintiffs for approximately $4,900 for the consumer debt owed to Customers Bank. (Id. §€ 16-17.) Plaintiffs entered into a repayment plan through the Saldutti Defendants’ office, but again missed payments in 2017. (Id. ¢f 18-19.) In or around May 2018, Plaintiff David Rankin contacted Defendant William Saldutti III “to inquire about rehabilitation and reconciliation of the payment plan.” (Id. | 20.) Following this inquiry, the Saldutti Defendants sent Plaintiffs an e-mail on June 22, 2018 requesting Plaintiffs’ complete and unredacted tax returns and requiring the completion of an attached “comprehensive ‘financial form.’” (Id. J€ 21-22.) Plaintiffs assert that this financial form “was furnished by the Saldutti Defendants, and prepared and issued by Customers Bank on Customers Bank’s letterhead containing [Customers] Bank’s logo.” (Id. § 22.) The form, signed by Plaintiffs, provides that “(t]he information contained in this statement is provided to induce you to extend or to continue the extension of credit to the undersigned or to others upon the guarantee of the undersigned.” (Doc. No. 3.3)

2 The facts are sourced from the allegations in the Complaint and are set forth in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. 3 The financial form (Doc. No. 3) was filed under seal because it contains Plaintiffs’ financial information and other confidential consumer data. (See Doc. No. 2.)

As related to Customers Bank, Plaintiffs contend that the form “is actually a credit extension application form of [Customers] Bank,” consequently triggering TILA disclosure requirements. (Doc. No. 1 26-27.) Plaintiffs also assert that “the only ‘credit’ at issue herein, as reasonably understood by Plaintiffs, was in the lowering of the monthly payments of the original debt owed to the Bank.” (Id. { 26.) Customers Bank did not provide TILA-required disclosures before or after Plaintiffs received the financial form. (Id. § 27.) Plaintiffs’ sole claim against Customers Bank is predicated on Customers Bank’s failure to provide TILA disclosures before or after Plaintiffs were given and completed the financial form. III. STANDARD OF REVIEW A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) Under Article III of the United States Constitution, the power of the judiciary extends only to “cases” and “controversies.” Kamal v. J. Crew Grp., Inc., 918 F.3d 102, 110 (3d Cir. 2019). An element of the case-or-controversy requirement is that a plaintiff must establish, based on their complaint, that they have standing to bring the case. Id. “To maintain a suit, a plaintiff must have (1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” Id. To show an injury in fact, a plaintiff must allege ‘tan invasion of a legally protected interest” that is “concrete and particularized” and “actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.” Id. B. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) The motion to dismiss standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim is set forth in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). After Iqbal it is clear that “(t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” to defeat a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Id. at 678; see also Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). “To survive dismissal, ‘a complaint must contain

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