Tourgeman v. Collins Financial Services, Inc.

197 F. Supp. 3d 1205, 2016 WL 3919633, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97356
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJune 16, 2016
DocketCase No.: 08-CV-1392 CAB (NLS)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 197 F. Supp. 3d 1205 (Tourgeman v. Collins Financial Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tourgeman v. Collins Financial Services, Inc., 197 F. Supp. 3d 1205, 2016 WL 3919633, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97356 (S.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER RE: ARTICLE III STANDING

Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo, United States District Judge

On May 18, 2016, Defendant Nelson & Kennard requested the Court hold a hearing to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 1640, 194 L.Ed.2d 636 (2016), on the scope and timing of the upcoming trial, which is currently scheduled to begin on July 18, 2016, [Doc. No. 467.] The Court received briefing on the subject and a hearing was held on June 6, 2016. [Doc. Nos. 460, 461.]

In Spokeo, the Supreme Court clarified that the injury-in-fact requirement for Article III standing requires a plaintiff to show that he/she “suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest that is ‘concrete and particularized’ and “actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.’ ” Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. at 1648 (citations omitted). To establish particularization the injury “must affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way.” Id. For an injury to be concrete it “must be ‘de facto’; that is, it must actually exist.” Id. Intangible injuries can nevertheless be concrete and while the history and judgment of Congress play important roles when determining whether an intangible harm constitutes an injury in fact, “Congress’ role in identifying and elevating intangible harms does not mean that a plaintiff automatically satisfies the injury-in-fact requirement whenever a statute grants a person a statutory right and purports to authorize the person to sue to vindicate that right.” Id. at 1549. An allegation of a bare procedural violation, “divorced from any concrete harm,” does not “satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement of Article III.” Id.

Pre-Spokeo, the Ninth Circuit held that Nelson & Kennard committed a material violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and also found Tourgeman had standing to bring this class action under the Act. The Court reasoned that “the injury he claims to have suffered was the violation of his right not to be the target of misleading debt collection communications. The alleged violation of this statutory right ... constitutes a cognizable injury under Article III.” Tourgeman v. Collins Financial Services, Inc., 755 F.3d 1109, 1116 (9th Cir.2014). The Ninth Circuit however did not address the concreteness of Tourgeman’s injury. Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. at 1548 (the independent requirement of concrete injury must be addressed).

Following Spokeo, this Court re-examines the record to determine if the particular procedural violations Plaintiff alleges entail a degree of injury sufficient to meet the concreteness requirement. The Court will first address Tourgeman’s standing in relation to the letter sent by Nelson <& Kennard before turning to the complaint drafted by Nelson & Kennard and filed against Tourgeman in California state court.

1. Nelson & Kennard Letter

Nelson & Kennard mailed a letter addressed to Tourgeman informing him that the firm’s client, Collins Financial Services, had instructed them to take action to recover the balances Tourgeman owed them. The letter erroneously identified [1208]*1208Tourgeman’s original creditor as American Investment Bank, N.A., when, in actuality, CIT Online Bank originated the loan. Tourgeman alleged that the misidentification in the letter violated Section 1692(e) of the FDCPA. 15 U.S.C. § 1692(e)(1) (violation based on the false representation of the character, amount, or legal status of any debt). Tourgeman also alleged a second violation related to the Nelson & Ken-nard letter, arguing that the lawyer who signed the Nelson & Kennard letter was not “meaningfully involved” in the evaluation of his case.1 15 U.S.C. § 1692(e)(3) (violation based on the false representation or implication that any individual is an attorney or that any communication is from an attorney). Tourgeman seeks only statutory damages “conceding that he suffered no pecuniary loss as a result of the defendants’ conduct.” Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1114.

The Ninth Circuit citing Robins v. Spokeo, the decision the Supreme Court subsequently reversed, reasoned that “the violation of a statutory right is usually a sufficient injury in fact to confer standing.” Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1115 quoting Robins v. Spokeo, Inc., 742 F.3d 409, 412 (9th Cir.2014). The Court explained that Tourgeman had claimed a cognizable injury under Article III by claiming that the injury he suffered was the violation of his right not to be the target of misleading debt collection communications. Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1116. The Court concluded that Tourgeman had constitutional standing to pursue his claim because “[t]he alleged violation of Tourge-man’s statutory rights stems solely from the defendants having mailed to him their collection letters, and that injury would be redressed by an award of statutory damages, which the FDCPA makes available to prevailing customers.” Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1118; see 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(2). The bare allegation of a statutory violation however does not satisfy the Article III requirement that a plaintiff demonstrate actual harm to establish standing. Spokeo, 136 S.Ct. at 1547 (first element of standing requires plaintiff must have suffered an injury in fact).

In order to have Article III standing, as the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo clarified, Tourgeman needs to do more than just point to a statutory violation, he needs to show an actual injury. It is, however, undisputed that Tourgeman did not receive the letter directed at him at the time it was sent. The Ninth Circuit specifically noted that “Tourgeman could not have suffered any pecuniary loss or mental distress as a result of a letter that he did not encounter until months after it was senf—when related litigation was underway.” Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1116. In response to Nelson & Kennard’s argument that a consumer who has never received the offending communication has suffered no injury in fact, Tourgeman countered “that a violation of the FDCPA ⅛ and of itself [ ] confers Article III standing’ ” and did not point to any instances of actual harm. Tourgeman, 755 F.3d at 1114. Spok-eo confirms that merely asserting a statutory violation that results in no actual injury is not sufficient to confer Article III standing.

Tourgeman did not receive the letter, and did not even become aware of it until litigation was underway, months after it was mailed, and he admittedly suffered neither pecuniary loss nor mental distress related to it. Plaintiff argued that the defendant’s act of sending the letter alone, [1209]*1209because it contained inaccurate material information, created a concrete risk that Tourgeman might have acted to his detriment in response because the erroneous information could have confused him.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
197 F. Supp. 3d 1205, 2016 WL 3919633, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tourgeman-v-collins-financial-services-inc-casd-2016.