Naranjo v. Cherrington Firm, LLC
Naranjo v. Cherrington Firm, LLC
Opinion of the Court
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Cristian Naranjo filed suit against the Cherrington Firm, LLC and Lacey Cherrington (collectively, "Cherrington"). Cherrington is engaged in the business of debt collection. Cherrington allegedly attempted to and did collect from Naranjo amounts in excess of what Naranjo actually owed. Naranjo claims that Cherrington's debt-collection practices violated (1) the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), and (2) the Utah Consumer Sales Protection Act ("UCSPA"). Cherrington has moved to dismiss Naranjo's UCSPA claim on the grounds that debt collection is governed by a more specific statute, the FDCPA. The Court finds this argument meritless and therefore denies the motion.
*1244II. DISCUSSION
Cherrington contends that Naranjo's UCSPA claim is barred because a more specific federal law, the FDCPA, governs debt collection. Cherrington states, "Utah law is clear that a claim under the UCSPA is barred when the conduct at issue is 'governed by other, more specific law.' " But Cherrington misunderstands Utah law.
Under Utah law, courts must construe legislative enactments to "give effect to the legislature's underlying intent." Millett v. Clark Clinic Corp. ,
In Carlie v. Morgan ,
In a later case, Berneike v. CitiMortgage, Inc. ,
In Thomas v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. , No. 2:13-cv-686,
The holding in Thomas is wrong for two reasons. First , neither Berneike nor Carlie stands for the proposition that UCSPA does not provide a remedy when the alleged acts are governed by more specific federal law. Both cases looked to more specific state law to conclude that the UCSPA did not provide a remedy. In fact, in Berneike , the court ignored the fact that there was more specific federal law, RESPA, which regulated the alleged wrongful conduct. Second , § 13-11-22(1)(a) speaks only to situations where state or federal law "require[s] or specifically permit[s]" the alleged wrongful conduct. It does not speak to a situation where both federal and state laws prohibit certain conduct.
In the most recent case cited by Cherrington, West v. C.J. Prestman Co. , No. 2:16-cv-75,
This conduct falls squarely within the Wiretap Acts. Thus, because the more specific Wiretap Acts control over the more general UCSPA, [plaintiff's] claim for violation of the UCSPA is DISMISSED.
Here, Naranjo's UCSPA claim is not barred by the FDCPA. Both Carlie and Berneike spoke to situations where UCSPA claims were improper due to more specific state law. The rule enunciated in Carlie seeks to maintain consistency between state statutes. See Lowder ,
Cherrington's argument is based entirely on the existence of a federal law, the FDCPA. It has not pointed to a state law that specifically regulates the alleged wrongful conduct, improper debt-collection practices. While there is state law that imposes registration and bond requirements *1246on collection agencies, it does not regulate debt-collection practices. See
Cherrington seems to argue that the Court should adopt a sweeping rule of statutory construction whereby plaintiffs are denied remedies under state law whenever there is a more specific federal law. Admittedly, the court in Thomas adopted such an approach. But that case was based on an erroneous reading of Carlie , Berneike , and § 13-11-22(1)(a). Such an approach would lead to sweeping preemption of Utah law whenever a federal law spoke more specifically to the subject matter of a lawsuit. In the case at hand, this was neither the intent of the Utah legislature, see § 13-11-22 (exemptions), nor Congress, see 15 U.S.C. § 1692n ("[The FDCPA] does not annul, alter, or affect, or exempt any person subject to the provisions of this subchapter from complying with the laws of any State with respect to debt collection practices, except to the extent those laws are inconsistent with any provision of this subchapter, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency."). Accordingly, the Court concludes that Naranjo's UCSPA claim is not barred by the FDCPA.
Moreover, § 13-11-22(1)(a) does not bar Naranjo's UCSPA claim. As noted above, this section provides that the UCSPA does not apply when state or federal law "require[s] or specifically permit[s]" the alleged wrongful conduct. Here, Naranjo claims that Cherrington violated both federal and state law. Section 13-11-22(1)(a) would apply only if Cherrington's actions were required or specifically permitted by federal or state law. Accordingly, the Court concludes that § 13-11-22(1)(a) does not bar Naranjo's UCSPA claim.
In sum, Naranjo's UCSPA is not barred by the rule enunciated in Carlie nor § 13-11-22(1)(a). The UCSPA claim would be barred under Carlie only if there were a more specific state law that regulated the subject matter of this suit, debt collection. Cherrington has not identified any such law. And § 13-11-22(1)(a) would apply only if the alleged wrongful conduct were required or specifically permitted by federal or state law. It is not.
III. CONCLUSION AND ORDER
For the reasons set forth above, the Court DENIES Cherrington's Motion to Dismiss Count II of Plaintiff's Complaint (ECF No. 11). Naranjo's UCSPA claim is not barred by the FDCPA.
Justice Howe wrote a concurrence in which he explained that he believed that the UCSPA did not apply because of a comment made by the drafters of the Uniform Consumer Sales Practices Act, the draft legislation after which the UCSPA was modeled. Carlie ,
Cherrington even concedes this in its Reply: "Of course, if the conduct about which the plaintiff in Thomas complained was illegal, it could not, by definition be 'an act or practice required or specifically permitted by or under federal law.' "
Cherrington ignores a number of cases from this circuit in which courts have allowed parties to seek redress under both the UCSPA and the FDCPA. See Heard v. Bonneville Billing and Collections , Nos. 99-4092, 99-4100,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cristian NARANJO v. The CHERRINGTON FIRM, LLC, and Lacey Cherrington
- Status
- Published