Wahl v. Midland Credit Management, Inc.

243 F.R.D. 291, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39626, 2007 WL 1574358
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 30, 2007
DocketNo. 06 C 1708
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 243 F.R.D. 291 (Wahl v. Midland Credit Management, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wahl v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., 243 F.R.D. 291, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39626, 2007 WL 1574358 (N.D. Ill. 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CASTILLO, District Judge.

Plaintiff Barbara Wahl (“Wahl”) filed a putative class action suit against Midland Credit Management, Incorporated (“MCM”), Midland Funding NCC-2 Corporation (“NCC-2”), and Encore Capital Group, Incorporated (“Encore”) (collectively, “Defendants”) for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (R. 36, Pl.’s Mem. in Support of Mot. for Class Cert. (“PL’s Mem”) at 1.) Currently before the Court is Wahl’s motion for class certification. (R. 34-1, PL’s Mot. for Class Cert.)

BACKGROUND

Wahl brings this action against three affiliated companies. Defendant Encore is the parent corporation of Defendant NCC-2, and MCM is an affiliate of Encore. (R. 59, Defs.’ Mem. in Opp. to Mot. for Class Cert. (“Defs.’ Mem.”) at 1.) Defendants purchase defaulted consumer debts (also known as “charged off debt”) from different corporations for a few cents on the dollar and attempt to collect the debt from the consumer. (R. 34, PL’s Mot. for Class Cert, at 2.) NCC-2 takes title to the charged off debts, most of which are credit card debts. (Id.) MCM is a collection agency and collects the bad debts purchased by NCC-2. (Id.)

Prior to February 2005, Wahl maintained a credit card account with British Petroleum (“BP”). (Id. at 3.) On February 3, 2005, MCM sent Wahl a letter informing her that NCC-2 had purchased her debt from BP and that MCM would be attempting to collect the debt. (Id., Ex.D, Feb. 3rd Letter.) The February 3rd letter indicated that the current balance of Wahl’s BP debt was $1,149, but MCM offered her a 25% discount off of the balance if she mailed the payment by [294]*294March 13, 2005. (Id.) The letter also stated that Wahl had 30 days after receiving the letter to dispute the validity of the debt, and in that event, MCM would obtain verification of the debt or a copy of the judgement, if one existed. (Id.) Wahl failed to notify MCM that she disputed the debt by the March 13th. (Id.) On April 15, 2005, MCM sent Wahl a follow-up letter stating that it was attempting again to collect the BP debt, which had a principal balance of $1,149.09 and accrued interest of $11.48, making the new balance $1,160.57. (R. 34, PL’s Mot. for Class Cert., Ex. A, April 15th Letter.) On April 22, 2005, Wahl, through her counsel Jerome Lamet (“Lamet”), disputed the debt. (R. 59, Defs.’ Mem., Ex. E, Wahl Letter.) In her letter, Wahl claimed that she was legally insolvent, and that if MCM persisted in contacting her, then she would pursue legal action against them. (Id.)

On August 27, 2005, MCM sent Wahl another letter indicating that the debt was still outstanding, the accrued interest up to that date was $32.40, and the current balance of the debt was now $1,181.49. (R. 1, Compl., Ex. B, Aug. 27th Letter.) In late 2005, MCM and NCC-2 transferred the debt to a third, nonaffiliated debt collector, Zwieker and Associates (“Zwieker”). (R. 59, Def.’s Mem. at 5.) On November 15, 2005, Lamet notified Zwieker in writing that Wahl disputed the debt, acknowledged MCM’s right to pursue legal action against Wahl, but offered to provide sworn affidavits and bank statements proving Wahl’s insolvency if this would avoid suit. (Id., Ex. C, Nov. 15th Letter.) Lamet also stated that Zwieker should cease contacting Wahl about the debt. (Id.)

Zwieker, however, sent Wahl a letter on December 14, 2005, indicating that the bal-anee of her account was $1,154.91, due immediately, or in the alternative, she could contact their offices to make arrangements to pay her debt. (R. 1, Compl., Ex. C, Dec. 14th Letter.) In response, Wahl, now represented by Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin (“Edelman Combs”), sent Zwieker a letter on February 5, 2006, indicating that the debt was disputed, requesting information that would support Zwicker’s claim against Wahl, and demanding that Zwieker provided documentation of how they arrived at the amount owed. (Id., Ex. D, Feb. 5th Letter.) On March 3, 2006, MCM sent Wahl a letter requesting any documentation that supported her dispute. (Id., Ex. E, Mar. 6 Letter.) Wahl did not respond and instead filed suit against Encore, MCM, and NCC-2 on March 28, 2006. (Id., Compl. at 1, 7.)

Wahl claims that in the April 15th and August 27th letters, MCM presented the “principal balance” as the total amount of Wahl’s purchases and cash advances as well as interest accrued while the debt was held by BP, and the “interest accrued” as amounts that had been added after Defendants purchased the charged off debt. (R. 34, PL’s Mot. for Class Cert. 4, 6.) She alleges that Defendants’ representation did not disclose the interest and finance charges that had accrued prior to the charge off, and simply lists them as a part of the “principal balance.” (Id., 6.) Wahl alleges that by including the interest that accrued while BP held the debt as a part of the principal balance, MCM engaged in a false and misleading practice in violation of Section 1692e1 of the FDCPA. (R. 36, PL’s Mem. at 1.) Wahl further alleges that Defendants violated Sections 1692c2 and 1692g3 of the [295]*295FDCPA by assigning her debt to a third party debt collector after she disputed the debt, who subsequently continued debt collection activities. (Id. at 2.) Wahl asks this Court to certify two proposed classes against Defendants. Class A is defined as:

(a) all individuals in Illinois, (b) to whom defendant MCM sent a letter, (c) seeking to collect a credit card debt, (d) describing as ‘principal’ an amount other than the outstanding purchases and cash advances on the card or describing as ‘interest’ an amount less than the outstanding finance charges on the account, or both, (e) which letter was sent on or after March 28, 2005 (one year prior to filing this action) and on or before April 17, 2006 (20 days after filing this action).

(R. 34, PL’s Mot. for Class Cert, at 1.) Class B is defined as:

(a) all individuals in Illinois, (b) who (according to the records of defendants and their collection agencies) disputed a debt defendants sought to collect, (c) following which collection communications continued by or on behalf of defendants, (d) where any of the subsequent communications occurred on or after March 28, 2005 and on or before April 17, 2006.

(Id. at 1-2.) For the following reasons, Wahl’s motion for class certification is granted in part and denied in part.

LEGAL STANDARDS

A plaintiff seeking class certification has the burden of proving that the proposed class meets the requirements of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jackson v. Nat’l Action Fin. Servs., Inc., 227 F.R.D. 284, 286 (N.D.Ill.2005).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
243 F.R.D. 291, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39626, 2007 WL 1574358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wahl-v-midland-credit-management-inc-ilnd-2007.