District Court grants summary judgment for defendant in FDCPA suit

Courts Consumer Finance FDCPA Debt Collection

On August 25, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a defendant’s motion for summary judgment in an FDCPA case, finding that the plaintiff did not suffer a concrete injury after receiving two collection letters from the defendant’s attorneys on the same day. According to the order, the plaintiff had a medical debt that was placed with the defendant for collection. The defendant sent a bill to the plaintiff, but because the plaintiff was unemployed when she received it, she did not make a payment, and “planned on setting up a payment plan once she obtained a ‘steady income.’” A month after sending the bill, the defendant called the plaintiff, and during the call, the plaintiff noted that she was considering filing for bankruptcy. The plaintiff subsequently retained an attorney to assist with a bankruptcy filing. Later that year, the plaintiff received two letters on the same day from the defendant, from two separate attorneys, both requesting that she pay the bill. The plaintiff sued the defendant, alleging that the collection letters violated the FDCPA because they falsely implied that the defendant’s attorneys were personally involved in the collection of her debt. The plaintiff claimed that she experienced concrete harm after receiving the letters in the form of emotional stress and confusion, which affected her decision whether to repay the debt or file for bankruptcy protection. The court granted the defendant summary judgment, deciding that the plaintiff lacked standing because she did not provide “evidence of specific facts showing that the collection letters caused her to take any action to her detriment, including making a payment on the debt or filing bankruptcy.” The court also found that “’[p]sychological states induced by a debt collector’s letter’—including emotional distress and confusion—are not concrete injuries.”