Santoro v. Aargon Agency, Inc.

252 F.R.D. 675, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85838, 2008 WL 4569859
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedOctober 14, 2008
DocketNo. 2:07-cv-1003-RLH-PAL
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 252 F.R.D. 675 (Santoro v. Aargon Agency, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Santoro v. Aargon Agency, Inc., 252 F.R.D. 675, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85838, 2008 WL 4569859 (D. Nev. 2008).

Opinion

ORDER

ROGER L. HUNT, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification (# 20), filed July 4, 2008, and Errata thereto (# 21), filed July 18, 2008. The Court has also considered Defendant Jargon Agency, Inc.’s (“Aargon”) Opposition (#22), filed July 22, 2008, and Plaintiffs Reply (# 31), filed September 17, 2008.

BACKGROUND

On July 28, 2006, Aargon sent form collection letters to 10,016 persons with Nevada addresses, including Plaintiff, demanding payment of consumer debt. (Dkt. # 20, Mot. Attach., Decl. of Aargon Agency, Inc. (“Aargon Deck”) ¶ 4.) According to Plaintiff, each of the letters sought collection of past University Medical Center (“UMC”) medical bills purchased by OPS 2, LLC, the company that assigned the accounts to Aargon for collection. Some time after Plaintiff received Aargon’s letter, Aargon filed suit against Plaintiff. (Dkt. # 20, Mot. Attach., Pl.’s Deck in Supp. of Class Certification (“Pl.’s Deck”) ¶ 4.) Plaintiff, in turn, filed this class action against Aargon on July 27, 2007, alleging Aargon’s letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA” or the “Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p (2006), Nevada Revised Statutes chapters 598 et seq. and 649 et seq., and the common law of torts, all of which accordingly prohibit debt collectors from engaging in abusive, deceptive, harassing, unfair, and illegal practices. Plaintiff concedes he did not pay any money to Aargon, and thus did not suffer any actual damages as a result of receiving the letter.

Plaintiffs amended class action complaint (Dkt. # 8) alleges Aargon’s letter violated the FDCPA and Nevada statutes by (1) failing to include language notifying consumers of their right to receive verification of the debt by sending the debt collector written notice that they dispute the debt (citing 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692g(a)(4), 1692g(b)); (2) failing to itemize, and attempting to collect, any additional charges or interest added by the debt collector to the amount claimed by the creditor (citing 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e(2), 1692e(5), 1692f(l), 1692g(a)(l), and Nev.Rev.Stat. § 649.375(2) (2004)); and (3) listing the name of the debt collector as the “original creditor” (citing 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692g(a)(l), 1692e, 1692e(2), 1692e(10), 1692f). In his amended complaint, Plaintiff requests an award of statutory damages, actual damages, costs, attorney fees, and relief in the form of a declaration that Aargon’s form letter violates the FDCPA.

Plaintiff now moves to certify the following class of persons pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23:

All consumers who, according to Defendants’ records, have mailing addresses within Nevada and, between July 26, 2006[,] and July 27, 2007, were sent collection letters in a form materially identical or substantially similar to the letter sent to the Plaintiff on or about July 28, 2006, ... which were not returned by the postal service as undelivered.1

[680]*680Plaintiff claims the entire proposed class is entitled to statutory damages and those class members who paid Aargon as a result of the letter are entitled to actual damages. (Mot. 12.) For the reasons stated below, the Court grants Plaintiffs motion.

DISCUSSION

Rule 23 provides four prerequisites to certifying a federal class action: (1) numerosity (the class must be so large “that joinder of all members is impracticable”); (2) commonality (there must exist “questions of law or fact common to the class”); (3) typicality (named parties’ claims or defenses “are typical ... of the class”); and (4) adequacy of representation (the representative must be able to “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class”). See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a); Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 613, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997); Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 150 F.3d 1011, 1019 (9th Cir.1998) (citing Amchem Prods., 521 U.S. at 613, 117 S.Ct. 2231). A district court may certify a class only if the court is “satisfied, after a rigorous analysis, that the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) have been satisfied.” Gen. Tel. Co. Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). To that end, the Court “must receive enough evidence, by affidavits, documents, or testimony,” to enable it to make an appropriate determination. In re Initial Pub. Offering Sec. Litig., 471 F.3d 24, 41 (2d Cir.2006). If the court is so satisfied, it must enter an order that “define[s] the class and the class claims, issues, or defenses,” and appoints class counsel pursuant to Rule 23(g). Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(1)(B). Additionally, as with a plaintiff bringing a case individually, one seeking to represent a class must have standing to do so. See Schlesinger v. Reservists Comm. to Stop the War, 418 U.S. 208, 215-17, 94 S.Ct. 2925, 41 L.Ed.2d 706 (1974).

The proposed class representative bears the burden of showing she meets the requirements of Rule 23(a), and she must also show satisfaction of one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b). Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 509 F.3d 1168, 1176 (9th Cir.2007); Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b). Of these subsections, Plaintiff seeks certification only under Rule 23(b)(3), which requires the Court to find (1) “that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members;” and (2) “that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3). The Court considers the requirements of Rules 23(a) and 23(b) in turn.

I. Requirements of Rule 23(a) and Standing

A. Numerosity (Rule 23(a)(1))

Plaintiff claims the proposed class— approximately 10,000 in number — “is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable,” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(1), and Aargon does not contend otherwise.

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Bluebook (online)
252 F.R.D. 675, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85838, 2008 WL 4569859, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santoro-v-aargon-agency-inc-nvd-2008.