Suazo v. Resurgent Capital Services LP

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 15, 2023
Docket1:21-cv-24016
StatusUnknown

This text of Suazo v. Resurgent Capital Services LP (Suazo v. Resurgent Capital Services LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Suazo v. Resurgent Capital Services LP, (S.D. Fla. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA MIAMI DIVISION

Case Number: 21-24016-CIV-MARTINEZ

KAREN SUAZO, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

RESURGENT CAPITAL SERVICES LP, et al.,

Defendants. ________________________________________/

ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

THIS CAUSE came before this Court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction and, Alternatively, for Summary Judgment (the “Motion”), (ECF No. 12). This Court has reviewed the Motion, pertinent portions of the record, and applicable law and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. Accordingly, after careful consideration, the Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART for the reasons set forth herein. I. BRIEF FACTUAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff Karen Suazo brings this putative class action against Defendants Resurgent Capital Services LP and LVNV Funding, LLC, for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e, 1692g (the “FDCPA”) in connection with Defendants’ attempts to collect a debt Plaintiff incurred. (See generally Compl., ECF No. 1.) Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated the FDCPA by providing Plaintiff false or misleading representations in violation of § 1692e of the FDCPA (Count I) and by failing to properly provide Plaintiff with a validation of her debt in violation of § 1692g (Count II). (Id. ¶¶ 65–74.) On or about November 18, 2020, LVNV Funding acquired a pool of charged-off accounts originally held by Credit One Bank, N.A. (Defs.’ Statement Material Facts (“Defs.’ SMF”) ¶ 1, ECF No. 13.) The pool of charged-off debt included a defaulted-on debt Plaintiff incurred on her Credit One account ending in 0871 (the “Debt”). (Id.) Resurgent Capital acts as LVNV Funding’s

master servicer and account manager and oversees the debt LVNV Funding owns and assigns third-party companies to attempt to collect those debts. (Id. ¶ 2.) On November 30, 2020, Resurgent Capital assigned Halsted Financial Services, LLC, to attempt to collect the Debt. (Id. ¶ 3.) On December 8, 2020, Halsted Financial emailed Plaintiff in an attempt to collect the Debt (the “December 8, 2020, Email”). (Id. ¶ 4.) The December 8, 2020, email included the following notice: This communication is from a debt collector. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid. If you notify this office in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt or any portion thereof, this office will obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgment and mail you a copy of such judgment or verification. If you request from this office in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice, this office will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different than the current creditor.

(Halsted Fin. Aff. Ex. A, ECF No. 13-2.) The December 8, 2020, Email provided Plaintiff with the name of the original creditor, the last four digits of the Credit One account number (0871), the name of the current creditor (LVNV Funding), and the total balance due ($719.20). (Id.) In a letter addressed to Halsted Financial dated April 8, 2021—exactly four months after Halsted Financial sent the December 8, 2020, Email—Plaintiff disputed the claim and requested validation of the debt (the “Plaintiff’s Letter”). (Halsted Fin. Aff. Ex. B, at 1, ECF No. 13-2; Defs.’ SMF ¶ 6.) On April 9, 2021, Halsted Financial forwarded Plaintiff’s Letter to Resurgent Capital. (Defs.’ SMF ¶ 7.) In response to Plaintiff’s Letter, Resurgent Capital sent Plaintiff two letters on April 13, 2021. (Id. ¶ 8.) The first letter contained an initial contact notice regarding the Debt that informed

Plaintiff that Resurgent Capital “initiated a review of the inquiry recently received directly or from Halsted Financial Services, LLC, the current servicer of [the Debt].” (the “Initial Contact Letter”). (Compl. ¶ 29; Resurgent Capital Aff. Ex. 2, ECF No. 13-1.) The Initial Contact Letter provided the following notice to Plaintiff: Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, we will assume this debt is valid. If you notice this office in writing within 30 days from receiving this notice, that you dispute the validity of this debt or any portion of it, we will obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgment and mail you a copy of such judgment or verification. If you request of us in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice, we will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

(Resurgent Capital Aff. Ex. 2.) The second letter dated April 13, 2021, contained a verification of the Debt for Plaintiff’s review (the “Verification Letter”).1 (Resurgent Capital Aff. Ex. 3, at 1, ECF No. 13-1.) The Verification Letter provided Plaintiff with a Credit One account statement for the statement beginning on August 2, 2020, and ending on September 1, 2020, (id. at 2); and an account summary report from LVNV Funding as of April 13, 2021, (id. at 3). Plaintiff alleges that the language in the Initial Contact Letter is “misleading and confusing to the consumer because one paragraph leads [Plaintiff] to believe that [her] account is already under review and that she does not need to dispute the [D]ebt and [the other] paragraph says [that] she has thirty days to dispute [her] debt.” (Compl. ¶ 36.) Plaintiff also challenges the Verification

1 For ease of reference, this Court will collectively refer to the Initial Contact Letter and Verification Letter as the “Letters.” Letter because it includes a Credit One statement that shows a balance of $617.84, which conflicts with the balance of the Debt at the time of the Verification Letter ($719.20). (Id. ¶¶ 46–49.) Plaintiff did not contact Defendants or Halsted Financial at any point after she sent Plaintiff’s Letter. (Defs.’ SMF ¶ 13.) Neither Defendants nor Halsted Financial contacted Plaintiff

regarding the Debt after sending Plaintiff the Initial Contact Letter and Verification Letter on April 13, 2021. (Id.) Defendants now move to dismiss the Complaint because Plaintiff lacks standing to pursue her FDCPA claims and, alternatively, move for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s FDCPA claims. II. LEGAL STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) provides for dismissal of a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Courts lack subject matter jurisdiction when a plaintiff fails to establish the “irreducible constitutional minimum” of standing. Spokeo Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330 338– 39 (2016). Motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction “can be based upon either a facial

or factual challenge to the complaint.” McElmurray v. Consol. Gov’t of Augusta-Richmond Cnty., 501 F.3d 1244, 1251 (11th Cir. 2007) (citing Williamson v. Tucker, 645 F.2d 404, 412 (5th Cir. May 1981)).

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Suazo v. Resurgent Capital Services LP, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/suazo-v-resurgent-capital-services-lp-flsd-2023.