Sonmore v. Checkrite Recovery Services, Inc.

206 F.R.D. 257, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14684, 2001 WL 1807505
District Court, D. Minnesota·Decided August 6, 2001·No. No. 99 CIV 2039 DDA/FLN·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

ORDER

ALSOP, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiffs Eric L. Sonmore (“Sonmore”) and Jennifer M. Rodine (“Rodine”) filed suit in this Court alleging that Defendant, Jon R. Hawks, Ltd. (“Hawks, Ltd.”), Defendant Jon R. Hawks (“Jon Hawks”), and Defendant CheckRite Recovery Services, Inc. (“Check-Rite”), sometimes collectively referred to as “Defendants,” violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. (“FDCPA”). This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion for an Order certifying a class of similarly situated consumers in relation to Plaintiffs’ claims against Hawks, Ltd. and Jon Hawks, sometimes collectively referred to as “Defendants Hawks.” For the reasons stated below, the Court will deny Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.

I. BACKGROUND

Because the facts are more fully laid out in the Court’s previous Orders relating to this matter, they will be discussed only briefly in this Order. Hawks, Ltd. is a Minnesota corporation and Jon Hawks, an attorney, is its sole officer and shareholder. Hawks, Ltd. acts as a debt collector for CheckRite. Defendants Hawks and CheckRite regularly send debt collection form letters to debtors and are debt collectors under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ respective debt collection letters violate the FDCPA in various ways.

This suit stems specifically from separate collection letters Defendants sent to each Plaintiff to collect on Plaintiffs’ dishonored checks that were written for their personal use: a two dollar check written by Sonmore to purchase gasoline and a thirty dollar check written by Rodine to purchase food at a restaurant. The checks were dishonored because Plaintiffs had insufficient funds to cover the amounts of the checks in their respective checking accounts.

When Plaintiffs failed to pay the amounts CheckRite1 alleged they owed, CheckRite referred collection of Plaintiffs’ dishonored [260]*260checks to Defendants Hawks. Defendants Hawks sent both Plaintiffs a substantially identical letter. Plaintiffs contend that the letters violate the FDCPA because in sending the mass-generated form letters, Defendants Hawks were not actually acting as attorneys and because the letters do not state the amounts Plaintiffs owe CheckRite.2

Agreeing that material facts were not in dispute regarding the claims, Plaintiffs and Defendants Hawks filed cross motions for summary judgment on the portions of the Complaint pertaining to Defendants Hawks, Counts IV and V, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on these claims finding that, as a matter of law, Defendants Hawks violated the FDCPA.

Plaintiffs moved to certify a class consisting of all consumers that, according to Defendants Hawks’ records, reside in the State of Minnesota and within one year from the date of the filing of Plaintiffs’ Complaint (November 28, 2000) were sent letters seeking to collect on a debt incurred for a personal, family, or household purpose that were materially identical to the letters Defendants Hawks sent to Plaintiffs. Defendants Hawks oppose Plaintiffs’ motion.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Decision

To succeed on a motion for class certification, Plaintiffs bear the burden of proving that they satisfy each of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)’s four requirements and one of the three subsections of Rule 23(b). See Fed.R.Civ.P.. 23(a) & (b); see also, e.g., Coleman v. Watt, 40 F.3d 255, 258 (8th Cir.1994); Beckmann v. CBS, Inc., 192 F.R.D. 608, 612-13 (D.Minn.2000). Plaintiffs seek to certify the class under Rule 23(b)(3).

Under the Federal Rules, district courts have “broad discretion” to determine whether class certification is appropriate. In re Milk Prods. Antitrust Litig., 195 F.3d 430, 436 (8th Cir.1999); Bishop v. Comm. on Prof'l Ethics, 686 F.2d 1278, 1287 (8th Cir. 1982); Keele v. Wexler, 149 F.3d 589, 592 (7th Cir.1998). The Court may certify a class only if, after rigorous analysis, the Court is satisfied that Plaintiffs have met the prerequisites of Rule 23. See General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). The Court’s determination must be based on the facts and circumstances of each case, “and must depend upon a careful balance between the convenience of maintaining a class action and the need to guarantee adequate representation to the class members.” Wright v. Stone Container Corp., 524 F.2d 1058, 1061 (8th Cir.1975); see also, e.g., Glenn v. Daddy Rocks, Inc., 203 F.R.D. 425 (D.Minn.2001). The Court concludes that certification is not warranted in this case because Plaintiffs have failed to satisfy the requirements of Rules 23(a) and (b)(3).

B. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)

Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure contains four threshold requirements that are applicable to all federal court class actions. Rule 23(a) provides:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (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.

Fed.R.Civ.P.. 23(a). “A district court must ‘evaluate carefully the legitimacy of the named plaintiffs plea that he is a proper class representative.’” In re Milk Prods. Antitrust Litig., 195 F.3d at 436 (quoting General Tel. Co., 457 U.S. at 160, 102 S.Ct. 2364). “A class representative must be part of the class and possess the same interest [261]*261and suffer the same injury as the class members.” Alpern v. UtiliCorp United, Inc., 84 F.3d 1525 (8th Cir.1996) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

1. Numerosity

Rule 23(a)’s first requirement is that joinder of all class members is impracticable because the class is too numerous. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23

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Sonmore v. Checkrite Recovery Services, Inc., 206 F.R.D. 257, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14684, 2001 WL 1807505 (mnd 2001).

206 F.R.D. 257 (Sonmore v. Checkrite Recovery Services, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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