Welch v. Green Tree Servicing LLC (In re Runyan)
Welch v. Green Tree Servicing LLC (In re Runyan)
Opinion of the Court
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
After the Debtors defaulted on their mortgage, Green Tree Servicing LLC— the loan servicer on the Debtors’ mortgage — attempted to collect the outstanding balance by making collection calls and sending collection notices. But those collection attempts (the calls and notices) were made after the Debtors notified Green Tree they were represented by counsel. And the collection calls were made to the Debtors’ cell phone using an autodialer. This Court must decide whether Green Tree’s collection efforts violated the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (“FCCPA”) or the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and, if so, whether Green Tree is entitled to set off any damages it owes under the FCCPA and TCPA against any amounts the Debtors owe Green Tree on their mortgage.
The Court concludes Green Tree violated the FCCPA. The FCCPA expressly prohibits a creditor from contacting a debtor directly once the creditor knows the debtor is represented by counsel. At trial, Green Tree’s corporate representative conceded that Green Tree contacted
Findings of Fact
In March 2007, the Runyans (the Debtors in this bankruptcy case) obtained a loan that was secured by a home mortgage.
When the Runyans bégan getting calls from Green Tree’s recovery department, Mr. Runyan explained that he and his wife would not be able to settle the debt and provided Green Tree with the name and contact information for an attorney they hired to file for bankruptcy.
Three months later, in July 2011, the Runyans filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy.
By its own admission, Green Tree violated the FCCPA
The Florida Legislature enacted the FCCPA to protect the consuming public from abusive debt collectors.
While determining whether a debt collector communicated with a debtor too frequently or too aggressively is a fact-intensive inquiry that is dependent on many factors (such as the timing of phone calls or the debt collector’s tone or demeanor),
On cross-examination, the Trustee’s counsel asked Mr. Dalpiaz, “Isn’t, it true that [Green Tree violated] the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act on at least some of the phone calls made on this particular account?”
For instance, Green Tree’s call logs showed that Green Tree called the Run-yans thirty times — seven times in May, nineteen times in June, and four times in July — all while knowing that the Runyans were represented.
When Green Tree should have immediately ceased attempting to communicate directly with the Runyans, it carried on without restraint. In doing so, it definitively violated the FCCPA’s prohibition against communicating with represented debtors — something that Green Tree cannot even contest. The FCCPA provides for $1,000 in statutory damages on a per-plaintiff basis.
Green Tree did not violate the TCPA
“In 1991, Congress enacted the TCPA in an effort to address a growing number of telephone marketing calls and certain practices thought to be an invasion of consumer privacy and a risk to public safety.”
Because the Runyans voluntarily listed Mr. Runyan’s cell phone number (and no other number) on the loan application,
On this point, the Eleventh Circuit recently explained, in Osorio v. State Farm Bank, F.S.B., that “Congress intended for the TCPA to incorporate the common-law meaning of consent, including its revocation.”
At best, the Runyans implicitly revoked their consent here. Mr. Runyan testified at trial that he told Green Tree it could contact his attorney with any further questions.
No other evidence was presented on the issue. Proving consent to autod-ialed cell phone calls is an affirmative defense for which Green Tree bears the burden of proof.
The Trustee is entitled to recover $2,000 in statutory damages
Any person who violates the FCCPA is liable for actual damages, statutory damages not to exceed $1,000, court
And Green Tree is not permitted to set off the $2,000 in statutory damages it must pay to the Trustee against its $39,814.38 claim against the Debtors’ bankruptcy estate. “In general, setoff is favored under the law in order to avoid a multiplicity of suits, added expense, inconvenience, injustice and inefficient use of judicial resources”
The Florida legislature enacted the FCCPA as a means of regulating debt collection practices.
Over a three-month period, Green Tree' purposely engaged in prohibited conduct: calling the Runyans thirty times, often multiple times per day. During this same time, Green Tree sent the Runyans collection letters explaining that their loan payments were “seriously past due,” and that they themselves should call to discuss payment options.
Conclusion
The Trustee is entitled to recover $2,000 in statutory damages under the FCCPA. That amount shall not be set off against Green Tree’s proof of claim in the main bankruptcy case. The Court will enter a separate judgment consistent with these Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
ORDERED.
. Def's Exs. 1-2. The parties dispute who owns the second mortgage on the Runyans’ home. But they agree that Green Tree Servicing LLC, on behalf of the lender, had the right to collect the outstanding debt.
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 33:22-34:2.
. Id. at 34:8-15.
. Id. at 35:4-16.
. Id. at 63:3-8.
. Id. at 63:6-10.
. Id. at 35:25-36:2.
. Id. at 52 at 102:2-8; 102:23-103:1.
. Id. at 104:18-105:1, 106:21^-107:5.
. Doc. No. 1.
. § 559.55, Fla. Stat., etseq.
. 47 U.S.C. § 227.
. The Court has jurisdiction over this contested matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1334. This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(O). The parties have consented to the Court’s entry of a final judgment in this proceeding for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 157(c)(2).
. LeBlanc v. Unifund CCR Partners, 601 F.3d 1185, 1190 (11th Cir. 2010). Green Tree, as a "debt collector,” is regulated under the FCCPA. § 559.55(7), Fla. Stat. The Runyans' home loan is protected as a “consumer debt.” § 559.55(6), Fla. Stat.
. § 559.72(1)-(19), Fla. Stat.
. Id. at § 559.72(7), (18). The Trustee originally contended that Green Tree also violated the FCCPA by knowingly attempting to enforce an illegitimate debt. Id. § 559.72(9). But she abandoned this theory at trial.
. Jeter v. Credit Bureau, Inc., 760 F.2d 1168, 1179 (11th Cir. 1985).
. Williams v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp., - F.Supp.3d -, -, 2015 WL 847381, at *6 (M.D.Fla. Feb. 26, 2015).
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 102:23-103:1.
. Id. at 105:14-17.
. Id. at 105:21-22.
. § 559.72(18), Fla. Stat.
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 106:5-17.
. Id. at 101-112. In some instances, Mr. Runyan would answer the calls; other times, he would simply ignore them. Id. at 35:25-36:2, 38:6-11. Mrs. Runyan never received calls from or spoke with Green Tree. Id. at 48:7-12; 50:12-22.
. Id.
. Id. at 112-114.
. Id. at 98-102.
. Tacoronte v. Tate & Kirlin Assocs., 2013 WL 5970720, at *2 (M.D.Fla. Nov. 8, 2013). The FCCPA also permits a plaintiff to recover actual damages. But the Trustee does not claim actual damages on the Debtors' behalf.
. Id.
. In the Matter of Rules & Regulations Implementing the Tel. Consumer Prot. Act of 1991, 27 F.C.C. Red. 15391, 15391-92 (2012).
. 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii).
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 90:20-23.
. Id. at 21:20-25.
. In the Matter of Rules & Regulations Implementing the Tel. Consumer Prot. Act of 1991, 23 F.C.C. Rcd. 559, 559 (2008) ("FCC Ruling”). The Eleventh Circuit has in the past relied on the FCC Ruling. Osorio v. State Farm Bank, F.S.B., 746 F.3d 1242, 1252 (11th Cir. 2014). Regardless, under the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2342, federal trial courts do not have the authority to invalidate FCC rulings. Mais v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc., 768 F.3d 1110, 1113 (11th Cir. 2014).
. Osorio, 746 at 1255. This is true, the court noted, so long as contractual provisions do not require otherwise. Id. Here, neither party introduced evidence of such restrictions.
. Maryland v. Universal Elections, Inc., 729 F.3d 370, 377 (4th Cir. 2013).
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 36:13-15.
. Id. at 52 at 38:20-23. The Trustee's counsel asked Mr. Runyan if it was his "intent, by telling Green Tree to stop calling you and call the attorney, to revoke consent for Green Tree to contact you directly?” Id. Contrary to the premise of the question, Mr. Runyan never testified that he told Green Tree to stop calling him.
. Id. at 40:6-10.
. Grant v. Capital Mgmt. Servs., L.P., 449 Fed.Appx. 598, 600 n. 1 (9th Cir. 2011); Lardner v. Diversified Consultants Inc., 17 F.Supp.3d 1215, 1224 (S.D.Fla. 2014).
. Fla. Stat. § 559.77(2).
. Arianas v. LVNV Funding LLC, 54 F.Supp.3d 1308, 1310 (M.D.Fla. 2014) ("U.S. District Courts in Florida have either expressly stated that the FCCPA limits statutory damages to $1,000 per action ... even when a series of FCCPA violations exist.”).
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 49:10-18.
. See § 595.55(2), Fla. Stat. (" 'Communication' means the conveying of information regarding a debt directly or indirectly to any person through any medium.”).
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 51:1-4.
. 5 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 553.01 (16th ed. 2013) (citing North Chicago Rolling-Mill Co. v. St. Louis Ore & Steel Co., 152 U.S. 596, 615-616, 14 S.Ct. 710, 715-716, 38 L.Ed. 565 (1894)).
. Brook v. Chase Bank USA, N.A., 566 Fed.Appx. 787, 790 (11th Cir. 2014).
. Green Tree contends that because setoff .merely reduces its claim against, and adds nothing to, the bankruptcy estate, even if it is liable under the FCCPA, the Trustee lacks Article III standing because the bankruptcy estate has not suffered an actual injury. Because the Court concludes that setoff is inappropriate in this case, it need not consider this argument.
. LeBlanc v. Unifund CCR Partners, 601 F.3d 1185, 1190 (11th Cir. 2010).
. Laughlin v. Household Bank, Ltd., 969 So.2d 509, 512 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); Bureau of Orlando, Inc. v. Cont’l Cas. Co., 342 So.2d 1019, 1020 (Fla. 5th DCA 1977).
. The exception would be those cases were the penalties imposed under the FCCPA exceed the consumer’s debt.
. Adv. Doc. No. 52 at 97-101.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: Jeffrey Adam RUNYAN and Rachel Ann Runyan, Debtors. Angela Welch, as Chapter 7 Trustee v. Green Tree Servicing LLC
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published