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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

District Court grants TRO and preliminary injunction in FDCPA case

Courts FDCPA Debt Collection

Courts

On July 7, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois granted a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against a defendant in an FDCPA case. In the motion, two individual plaintiffs claimed that the defendant called them 20 times in a three-day period and said he will continue calling “family, friends, and business interests until the [plaintiffs’] adult son’s debts are paid.” The plaintiffs’ attorney sent a notice to the defendant indicating that the plaintiffs were being represented and to not contact them directly. The defendant allegedly responded that he “does not intend to cease or desist.” After communicating with the plaintiffs’ attorney, the defendant allegedly called the plaintiffs’ business associates and employees over 40 times over a six-day period. The plaintiffs filed suit, claiming the defendant violated the FDCPA by, among other things, “using obscene language, and repeatedly and continuously calling Plaintiffs with the intent to abuse, annoy or harass,” and “threaten[ing] to sue them for debts that they do not owe.” According to the order, the defendant argued that the underlying debt is a business debt and thus not subject to the FDCPA. The district court found that the defendant “declined to present any evidence and refused the opportunity to testify under oath.” Ultimately, the district court stated that the plaintiffs “seek an injunction that only goes so far as to require Defendants’ compliance with the law.” Further, the district court noted that the defendant “will suffer no harm in that they are only being ordered to do that which is already legally required of them.”