Richburg v. Palisades Collection LLC

247 F.R.D. 457, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25299, 2008 WL 223416
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 28, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 07-7
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 247 F.R.D. 457 (Richburg v. Palisades Collection LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richburg v. Palisades Collection LLC, 247 F.R.D. 457, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25299, 2008 WL 223416 (E.D. Pa. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

DALZELL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Janice A. Riehburg sued defendants Palisades Collection, LLC, (“Palisades”) and Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, (“Wolpoff”) in this putative class action for allegedly filing a lawsuit against her to collect a consumer credit card debt after the statute of limitations for such an action had run. Riehburg now moves for class certification, and the defendants move for summary judgment. We shall resolve these motions in the order just stated.

I. Factual Background

Riehburg bought a computer from Gateway in the summer of 2000. Def.’s Mem. [461]*461Opp. Cert. Ex. C. at 82. In October of 2000, she fell behind on her payments. Id. Ex. C at 109-10. During a phone conversation between Riehburg and a Gateway representative in January of 2001, she stated that someone had stolen the computer and she could no longer make her payments on it because she had been laid off from her job. Id. at 134-36. Richburg’s debt to Gateway went into default on February 3, 2001. PL’s Cert. Mem. Ex. A ¶¶ 10, 11, 24, 25. Gateway assigned this debt to Palisades, who hired Wolpoff to collect it through legal action. See id. Ex. C.

Throughout 2003 Palisades attempted to contact Riehburg concerning her debt. Def.’s S.J. Mem. Ex. E. On February 27, 2003, a Palisades representative at last successfully contacted her. Id. There is some dispute as to what exactly happened in the ensuing conversation, but the parties agree that the representative and Riehburg discussed her debt and payment situation, but that Riehburg did not agree to pay anything at that time.1 Def.’s Mem. Opp. Cert, at Ex. E; PL’s Cert. Reply Ex. B at 155-56,158-61.

On September 15, 2006, Wolpoff sent a letter to Riehburg on behalf of Palisades demanding payment of $3,807.38 and giving her thirty days to dispute the debt. PL’s Cert. Mem. Ex. C. Ten days later, Wolpoff filed a statement of claim in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to initiate the debt collection action against the plaintiff. Id. Ex. D. The statement of claim’s total repayment demand was for $3,808.20, inclusive of all costs and fees, and it specified the principal as $1,683.46 with $1,706.05 in interest and $336.69 in attorneys’ fees. Id.

Prior to any contact with Riehburg, Wol-poffs partnership had assigned Ronald S. Canter, the Director of Compliance, with the task of compiling a nationwide survey of the statutes of limitations relevant to its debt collection practice. Def. S.J. Mem. Ex. F ¶ 6. Canter examined the applicable statutes, analyzed case law, and discussed legal theories for bringing debt collection claims with other attorneys. Id. ¶ 7. Through this process Wolpoff created its national statutes of limitations chart, which its attorneys use as an aid in determining whether and when to bring actions against debtors. Id. Ex. G. Wolpoff continues to review the applicable law and update the chart when changes to the law occur. Id. Ex. F. ¶ 8.

On January 2, 2007, Riehburg filed the original complaint alleging violations of the (1) Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. (“FDCPA”), (2) Pennsylvania Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, 73 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 2270.1 et seq. (“FCEUA”), (3) Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, 73 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 201-1 et seq. (“UTPCPL”), and (4) the Pennsylvania Loan Interest and Protection Law, 41 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 101, et seq. (“PLIPL”). Compl. ¶ 35-55. The defendants answered on February 16, 2007 and moved for judgment on the pleadings on July 11, 2007, challenging all of plaintiffs claims. In our September 7, 2007 Order, we granted defendants’ motion in part, dismissing the PLIPL claim.

As mentioned, Riehburg now moves for class certification, and the defendants move for summary judgment.

II. Class Certification Standard

The class action device is appropriate in cases where it “saves the resources of both the courts and the parties by permitting an issue potentially affecting every [class member] to be litigated in an economical fashion under Rule 23.” Gen. Tel. Co. of the Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 155, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982) (quoting Califano v. Yamasaki 442 U.S. 682, 701, 99 S.Ct. 2545, 61 L.Ed.2d 176 (1979)). A party seeking to certify an action for class litigation must first meet the familiar four requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a):

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the [462]*462class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

The shorthand for these four requirements is numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy.

The defendants contend that we should not certify a class because such a device and its champion are subject to sundry defenses that would require individualized fact inquiries for every class member. Although there may be a core of plaintiffs suggested class that would be appropriate to certify, we cannot do so with the present class representative because she is both atypical and inadequate.

Since we will deny Richburg’s motion for class certification on typicality and adequacy grounds, we do not reach the Rule 23(b)(3) factors of predominance and superiority.

III. The Rule 23(a) Factors

Defendants contend that the plaintiff has failed to establish all of the 23(a) factors except numerosity. Though, as noted, we will deny class certification only because of typicality and adequacy, we will address each factor in order to do our Falcon “rigorous analysis.” For the sake of efficiency we will consider typicality and adequacy together because the defendants’ argument considers both factors together.

A. Numerosity

“No definite standard exists concerning a magic number satisfying the numerosity requirement, nor must plaintiff allege the exact number or identity of class members.” Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., 120 F.R.D. 642, 645 (E.D.Pa.1988). Plaintiff states that there are “in excess of 3,100 consumers” who potentially fall into the class. Pl.’s Cert. Mem. at 11, Ex. A ¶¶ 47-57. Courts are permitted to “accept common sense assumptions” about the numerosity requirement. In re Linerboard Antitrust Li-tig., 203 F.R.D. 197, 205 (E.D.Pa.2001) (quoting In re Cephalon Sec. Litig., 1998 WL 470160 at *2 (E.D.Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
247 F.R.D. 457, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25299, 2008 WL 223416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richburg-v-palisades-collection-llc-paed-2008.