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District Court grants summary judgment for defendant in FDCPA vicarious liability case
On July 30, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of a debt collector (defendant) with respect to a plaintiff’s FDCPA allegations. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant, among other things, violated the FDCPA by engaging in abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices when the defendant allegedly filed a false proof of service in a collection action, which allowed the defendant to obtain a default judgment and garnish the plaintiff’s wages. The defendant, through a law firm, allegedly purchased a debt that the plaintiff had maintained. Subsequently, a collection lawsuit against the plaintiff was filed and a process server delivered the summons and complaint to the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed suit against the defendant, alleging the defendant violated the FDCPA by falsely claiming that it served the summons and complaint. After finding that the defendant itself did not falsify the service return form or have knowledge that a falsified service return form was filed, the court examined if the defendant is vicariously liable for the alleged violations undertaken by the collection law firm or the process server. According to the opinion, “a plaintiff may press an FDCPA claim pursuant to a theory of vicarious liability only if the pertinent parties both constitute “debt collectors” and they enjoy an agency relationship,” however, “the evidence fails to permit a reasonable determination that either may expose [the defendant] to vicarious liability.”
As previously covered by InfoBytes, in June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon partially granted a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, finding that a debt buyer who puts accounts with a debt collector can be held vicariously liable for the actions of the debt collector, since the debt buyer “bear[s] the responsibility of monitoring the activities of those it hires to collect debts on its behalf.” However, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama case, the court found that that any alleged issues regarding summons and complaints in an underlying collection case do not qualify as the responsibility of the defendant.
New York enacts law covering collection of family member debts
On December 28, the New York governor signed S3491A, which amends the state’s general business law to add a section prohibiting principal creditors and/or debt collection agencies from making any representations that a person is required to pay the debt of a family member in a way that contravenes the FDCPA or that misrepresent the person’s obligation to pay such debts. The amendment defines “debt collection agency” as “a person, firm or corporation engaged in business, the principal purpose of which is to regularly collect or attempt to collect debts: (a) owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another; or (b) obtained by, or assigned to, such person, firm or corporation, that are in default when obtained or acquired by such person, firm or corporation.” The law is effective 90 days after enactment.
Maryland appeals court holds HOAs may be vicariously liable under Maryland Consumer Protection Act
On December 21, 2018, the Maryland Special Appeals Court held that a homeowners association (HOA) is not shielded from liability under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) simply because the law firm used by the HOA to collect certain debts is exempt from the law. According to the opinion, after an HOA was awarded a judgment of over $3,000 against homeowners for unpaid fines, the homeowners filed an action against the HOA asserting violations of the MCPA and the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act (MCDCA), and the HOA responded by filing a third-party complaint against its law firm, arguing the firm agreed to indemnify it. The lower court granted summary judgment in favor of the HOA on the MCPA claim, holding that because the statute specifically exempts attorneys, the HOA cannot be held vicariously liable under the statute. Additionally, among other things, the lower court held the homeowners improperly used the MCDCA to dispute the validity of the debt and granted the HOA judgment as a matter of law.
The appellate court disagreed and held that the HOA is not shielded from liability under the MCPA solely because the law firm used to collect the debts is exempt from the statute. The court reasoned that a “debt collector should not be able to hire an attorney to engage in illegal debt collection practices on its behalf as a means of avoiding liability” under the MCPA. The court also vacated the lower court’s judgment in favor of the HOA on the MCDCA claims, concluding that the homeowners were challenging the HOA’s methods in filing liens in the collection of the debt, as opposed to disputing the validity of the debt itself.
5th Circuit: Loan originators cannot be liable for loan servicers’ violations of RESPA loss mitigation requirements
On December 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit held that a mortgage loan originator cannot be held vicariously liable for a loan servicer’s failure to comply with the loss mitigation requirements of RESPA (and its implementing Regulation X). According to the opinion, in response to a foreclosure action, a consumer filed a third-party complaint against her loan servicers and loan originator alleging, among other things, that the loan servicers had violated Regulation X’s requirement that a servicer evaluate a completed loss mitigation application submitted more than 37 days before a foreclosure sale. In subsequent filings, the consumer clarified that the claims against the loan originator were for breach of contract and vicarious liability for one of the loan servicer’s alleged RESPA violations. The district court dismissed both claims against the loan originator and the consumer appealed the dismissal of the RESPA claim.
On appeal, the 5th Circuit affirmed the dismissal for two independent reasons. First, the 5th Circuit noted it is well established that vicarious liability requires an agency relationship and determined the consumer failed to assert facts that suggested such a relationship existed. Second, in an issue of first impression at the circuit court stage, the court ruled that, as a matter of law, the loan originator could not be vicariously liable for its servicer’s alleged violations of RESPA, as the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions only impose loss mitigation requirements on “servicers,” and therefore only servicers could fail to comply with those obligations. The appellate court reasoned that Congress explicitly imposed RESPA duties more broadly in other sections (using the example of RESPA’s prohibition on kickbacks and unearned fees that applies to any “person”), but chose “a narrower set of potential defendants for the violations [the consumer] alleges.” The court concluded, “the text of this statute plainly and unambiguously shields [the loan originator] from any liability created by the alleged RESPA violations of its loan servicer.”