Vitullo v. Mancini

684 F. Supp. 2d 747, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013, 2010 WL 331761
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJanuary 26, 2010
Docket1:09cv614
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 684 F. Supp. 2d 747 (Vitullo v. Mancini) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vitullo v. Mancini, 684 F. Supp. 2d 747, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013, 2010 WL 331761 (E.D. Va. 2010).

Opinion

*751 MEMORANDUM OPINION

T.S. ELLIS, III, District Judge.

Threshold motions to dismiss this Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) 1 case present the following questions:

(i) whether, under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a), a debt collector must send the debtor a second written notice containing all of the information enumerated in the statute within five days of the parties’ initial communication where, as here, the initial communication contained some — but not all — of the required items of information;
(ii) whether an allegedly false statement that a party is in default with respect to a note is misleading under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, even though the party knows he did not sign the note or the deed of trust as to which he is allegedly in default; and
(iii) whether a debt collector violates the FDCPA’s “cease communications” provisions in 15 U.S.C. § 1692c where, as here, the debt collector sends a communication, as required by state law, directly to a debtor known to be represented by an attorney.

Also at issue is defendant’s Rule 72(a) motion objecting to the U.S. Magistrate Judge’s decision to grant the original plaintiffs Rule 15 motion to amend the first amended complaint to add a new plaintiff and six Counts.

The parties, by counsel, fully briefed and argued these matters, and for the reasons that follow, the motions to dismiss are granted in part and denied in part, and the objection to the Magistrate Judge’s decision is overruled.

I. 2

Plaintiffs Liliana and Julio Vitullo are residents of Virginia. According to the second amended complaint, Liliana Vitullo, but not Julio Vitullo, is the owner of a property located on River Road in Capon Bridge, West Virginia. On October 4, 2006, Liliana Vitullo signed a deed of trust and note secured by the Capon Bridge property. Julio Vitullo signed neither the deed of trust nor the note. The current beneficiary of the deed of trust is IndyMac Bank F.S.B. (“IndyMac”), not a party to this action. The second amended complaint alleges that the current noteholder is defendant Green Tree Servicing, LLC (“Green Tree”), a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Minnesota.

Defendant Daniel J. Mancini is an attorney who maintains a law firm named Mancini & Associates in Pennsylvania. Mancini & Associates regularly collects, or attempts to collect, debts. On June 2, 2008, Mancini sent a letter to Liliana Vitullo entitled “Pre-Foreelosure/Right to Cure.” Specifically, the letter stated that Liliana Vitullo was in default on the loan secured by the Capon Bridge property under a deed of trust, and that she had the right to cure the default by paying $9,191.24. The letter also stated:

*752 Please be advised that you have thirty (30) days after receipt of this notice to dispute the validity of this debt, or any portion thereof, otherwise the debt will assume to be [sic] valid. If you notice [sic] this office, in writing, within thirty (30) days that the debt or any portion thereof, is disputed we will obtain verification of the debt and a copy of such verification will be mailed to you. If you notify this office, in writing, and make the request within the thirty (30) day period you will be provided with the name and address of the original creditor, if not already provided and, which, as you know, is different from the current creditor.

Sec. Am. Compl. Ex. A. On June 16, 2008, Mancini sent an identical letter to Julio Vitullo. 3

On June 20, 2008, Liliana Vitullo’s counsel sent Mancini a letter disputing the debt and requesting the name of the original lender. The letter also (i) demanded that Mancini immediately “cease and desist from any further attempts (including communications of any sort) to collect this debt from my client”; (ii) referred Mancini to the FDCPA “to determine what communications are permitted following a demand by a debtor to cease communications”; and (iii) noted that Mancini is “not excused from sending any communication required by law.” Def.’s Br. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Ex. 2. Liliana Vitullo did not receive a response verifying the debt or providing the original creditor’s name and address. By letter dated August 29, 2008, Mancini sent to Liliana Vitullo, not her counsel, a notice of acceleration and intent to foreclose and sell the Capon Bridge property at public auction on September 22, 2008, unless default was cured. Thereafter, Mancini foreclosed on the property on September 22, 2008.

Liliana Vitullo filed the original complaint on June 1, 2009, alleging various violations of the FDCPA solely against Mancini. Specifically, Counts I-VIII pled violations of certain FDCPA provisions and Count IX sought a declaratory judgment with respect to the foreclosure’s alleged invalidity. Before service of a responsive pleading, Liliana Vitullo, on October 19, 2009, filed an amended complaint as a matter of right 4 adding Green Tree as defendant with respect to the declaratory judgment action pled in Count IX. On November 3, 2009, Mancini filed a motion to dismiss Counts I-V and VII of the first amended complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P., and a motion to dismiss Count IX pursuant to Rule 12(b)(7), Fed.R.Civ.P. In her brief in response, Liliana Vitullo conceded that she had no rights arising out of the June 16, 2008 letter addressed to Julio Vitullo, the subject of Count V of the original and first amended complaints, and accordingly sought leave to amend Count V pursuant to Rule 15(c), Fed.R.Civ.P., to add Julio Vitullo as plaintiff and to allege additional Counts. In addition, Liliana Vitullo sought leave to amend Count IX of the first amended complaint by removing Mancini as defendant. A Magistrate Judge granted the motion to amend, and accordingly Liliana and Julio Vitullo filed a second amended complaint on December 13, 2009.

Plaintiffs’ second amended complaint names two defendants — Mancini and Green Tree — and contains fourteen Counts, all of which allege violations of the FDCPA arising out of defendants’ attempt to collect the debt secured by the Capon *753 Bridge property. Counts I-XIII name only Mancini as defendant. More precisely, Counts I-IV allege that the June 2, 2008 letter sent to Liliana Vitullo did not contain information enumerated in 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a)(2)-(5) regarding the debt and her rights to dispute the debt, and therefore Mancini violated the FDCPA when he failed to send a second written communication within five days providing this information.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
684 F. Supp. 2d 747, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013, 2010 WL 331761, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vitullo-v-mancini-vaed-2010.