Boerner v. LVNV Funding LLC
Boerner v. LVNV Funding LLC
Opinion of the Court
1. INTRODUCTION
On December 22, 2017, Plaintiff George Boerner ("Boerner") filed a complaint against defendants LVNV Funding, LLC ("LVNV") and Messerli & Kramer, PA ("Messerli") (collectively, "Defendants") alleging violations of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"),
2. LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 states that the "court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see Boss v. Castro ,
The Seventh Circuit has provided additional direction in evaluating the viability of FDCPA claims. Such claims are assessed from the perspective of the "unsophisticated consumer." An unsophisticated *772consumer "may be uninformed, naïve, [and] trusting, but is not a dimwit, has rudimentary knowledge about the financial world, and is capable of making basic logical deductions and inferences[.]" Lox v. CDA, Ltd. ,
3. RELEVANT FACTS
George Boerner held a Menard's/Capital One credit card, for which he fell behind on payments after he lost his job. Between October 2016 and February 2017, Boerner received billing statements in the mail that contained information including the amount due and the payment due date. As is customary with credit card billing statements, Boerner was allowed to make partial payments, or "minimum payments," on the debt. Boerner owed a total of $ 1,957.57 on the Menard's/Capital One credit card before it was finally turned off ("charged off") in early 2017. By February 2017, Boerner was required to pay $ 649.00 on the total owed balance. At some point following the charge off, the Menard's/Capital One credit card debt was sold. It passed through multiple financial institutions and ultimately arrived at LVNV, which retained the Messerli law firm to collect on the delinquent account.
On June 19, 2017, Messerli sent Boerner's bankruptcy attorney a standard form letter stating that it represented LVNV in the collection of the debt, and, if appropriate, Boerner must dispute the validity of the debt within 30 days. (Docket # 40-2). Boerner does not recall seeing this letter and, to this day, is confused by the fact that it refers to HSBC Bank Nevada, a bank Boerner has never used. The letter does not contain any information regarding Boerner's opportunity to cure the default, nor does it mention that the debt stems from Boerner's Menard's/Capital One card. It does, however, list the last four digits of that credit card.
LVNV is a long-term client of the Messerli firm, and Messerli is familiar with LVNV's business practices and accounts. When retained to collect a particular debt, Messerli receives consumer files from LVNV, as well as general demographic information about the debtor. State court complaints are drafted on a standard form template, which Messerli attorneys review "at least annually." (Docket # 50 at 10-11). Messerli regularly trains its employees on legal compliance and industry developments.
The Messerli attorney working on behalf of LVNV in Boerner's case, James Kachelski, is listed as the attorney of record in several hundred cases throughout Wisconsin.
It is undisputed that Kachelski reviewed the complaint on October 23, 2017, and the complaint was ultimately filed on October 25, 2017. Id. There are no other entries from that period on the computer system for Boerner's case that can be attributed to any other attorney. The parties dispute how busy Kachelski's schedule was that week, including the number of hearings for which he made appearances. At some point after the complaint was filed, another attorney, Gina Ziegelbauer, became involved in Boerner's case.
4. ANALYSIS
The thrust of Plaintiff's argument is that LVNV unlawfully accelerated the maturity of his debt when LVNV filed suit against him without giving Plaintiff notice of his right to cure the default under the WCA, which, in turn, violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A) because LVNV falsely represented the legal status of the debt, i.e., that the debt was ready to be sued upon. Plaintiff also alleges that Messerli falsely represented that an attorney was meaningfully involved in the collections suit when, in fact, Kachelski was barely involved at all, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(3). In its July 25, 2018 order on Defendants' motion to dismiss, the Court determined that Boerner could proceed on his two FDCPA claims, one of which is predicated on facts underlying the WCA the violation, which the court determined was precluded from litigation in federal court due to its dismissal in the state court action. (Docket # 32 at 18-19). Defendants now seek summary judgment on each of Boerner's claims, as well as dismissal of the entire action. The Court addresses each FDCPA claim below, as well as Defendants' argument against emotional damages.
4.1 FDCPA
The FDCPA is, as its name suggests, intended to "eliminate abusive debt collection practices."
4.1.1 15 U.S.C. 1692e(2)(A)
A debt collector may not falsely represent "the character, amount, or legal status *774of any debt." 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A). Like the FDCPA, the WCA was enacted to protect consumers from unfair business practices, and is liberally construed to this effect.
Defendants first argue that LVNV had the right to sue Boerner because Boerner no longer had a "right to cure" where the credit card balance was entirely past due and fully owed. (Docket # 39 at 7). Defendants refer to Rosendale State Bank v. Schultz , which holds that if "the customer defaults on an entire obligation, there is no right to cure."
Boerner's position is supported by prior decisions in this district. In Johnson v. LVNV Funding , the court distinguished debts that are "fully due" from debts that involve "installment payments," such as credit cards with minimum payments and a maximum credit amount.
LVNV made a similar argument in Johnson , which the court struck down because "LVNV, as assignee, stepped into the shoes of the original creditor" when it purchased the debt. "What [Capital One] and LVNV did regarding accounting and ownership of [Boerner's] Account after a default cannot change the nature of [Boerner's] credit relationship with [Capital One] and eliminate [his] rights under the WCA. Consumers should not lose their consumer rights based on a creditor's choice to sell or assign the debt."
The debt in this case is also a credit card debt with minimum payments and a credit limit, such that Boerner could pay the installments over the course of several years. (Docket # 44 at 5-20). Based on Boerner's billing statements from Menard's/Capital One, the credit card statement amount was not treated as "fully owed," but rather as a balance that could be paid off with "minimum payments."
Next, Defendants argue that they were not obligated to give notice because the WCA is permissive.
Defendants are not the first creditors to argue that
Wis. Stat § 425.103(3) requires that "[a] cause of action with respect to the obligation of a customer in a consumer credit transaction shall be subject to this subchapter, including the provisions relating to cure of default ( §§ 425.104 and 425.105 )." (emphasis added). Wis. Stat § 425.105(1), in turn, states:
A merchant may not accelerate the maturity of a consumer credit transaction, commence any action except as provided in § 425.205(6), or demand or take possession of collateral or goods subject to a consumer lease other than by accepting a voluntary surrender thereof (§ 425.204), unless the merchant believes the customer to be in default ( § 425.103 ), and then only upon the expiration of 15 days after a notice is given pursuant to § 425.104 if the customer has the right to cure under this section .
(emphasis added). It has already been established that Boerner had the right to cure the default because the debt was not yet "fully owed." See supra at 774. Accordingly, the statute required Defendants to wait until "the expiration of 15 days after a notice is given" before they "accelerate[d] the maturity of a consumer credit transaction [or] commence[d] any action." In effect, Wis. Stat § 425.105(1), as it pertains to accelerated credit transactions or commenced legal actions, renders notice pursuant to
In this case, Defendants commenced an action in state court and accelerated *776Boerner's debt, which he had previously paid in installments, to a final amount due immediately, without providing him with notice and an opportunity to cure the default. Defendants did not have to accelerate the loan or commence the action. However, once they chose to pursue those actions, under
Finally, Defendants argue that Menard's/Capital One's monthly billing statements constituted notice under the WCA. Plaintiff argues that this is contrary to the purposes of the WCA. Indeed, in Johnson , this district held that "treating a monthly billing statement as both that and a notice of right to cure goes against the purposes of the WCA...An unsophisticated consumer would reasonably not know or understand the difference." Johnson ,
4.1.1.1 Federal Preemption
Defendants advance an argument that Capital One, a federally-chartered financial institution, was not required to follow the WCA because federal law preempts it. In support of this contention, Defendants provide correspondence between the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions ("DFI") and the Kohn Law Firm (which is not involved in this case), which, according to Defendants, concludes that right to cure requirements are preempted by federal law.
Defendants also contend that
Barnett Bank asks whether the state and federal statutes are in "irreconcilable conflict" with each other.
Claims that are rooted in state consumer protection laws fall in "an area that is traditionally within the state's police powers to protect its own citizens." Aguayo v. U.S. Bank ,
In keeping with this principle, the regulation at issue includes a savings clause (i.e., a provision limiting the scope of the regulation) that applies to areas of law that are traditionally the purview of state law, including contracts and rights to collect debts.
To confirm that the Wisconsin law at issue, which falls within the savings clause, is not preempted by the rest of the regulation, the Court applies the test set forth in Barnett Bank . The first inquiry is whether the laws are in "irreconcilable conflict." They are not. The federal regulation governs loans issued by national banks, and explicitly provides that debt collection laws, which apply in certain situations after a loan is extended, are not preempted. The Wisconsin statute governs debt collection after the default of those loans. The requirement that a debt collector-in this case, a state debt collector-issue a notice after a consumer defaults is "incidental to the national bank's lending authority." 69 FR 1904-1 at 1912 ; see also Aguayo ,
4.1.2 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(3)
A debt collector may not falsely represent or imply "that any individual is an attorney or that any communication is from an attorney." 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(3). This extends to representations or omissions made in state court filings. Marquez v. Weinstein, Pinson & Riley, P.S. ,
There is evidence in the record that could lead a reasonable jury to find that Kachelski was not meaningfully involved in the litigation. In Nielsen , a law firm comprised of three attorneys and approximately 20-25 legal staff provided legal services and expertise to debt collectors.
In finding a lack of meaningful attorney involvement, Nielsen took issue with the following factors: first, the law firm only received information from accounts selected by the creditor-the law firm did not decide who to pursue, but simply conducted additional, ministerial screening.
To be sure, certain factors weigh in Defendants' favor here. Messerli does actively litigate on behalf of LVNV in state court, and it seems that they do receive the entire client file. However, a number of other factors remain uncertain. First, it is unclear who determines which files LVNV sends to Messerli-i.e., whether LVNV only sends the delinquent accounts it wants litigated, or whether Messerli conducts some exercise of professional judgment to determine which claims to pursue. It is also unclear whether Messerli has a policy for sending notices of right to cure to eligible consumers, nor is it clear whether Messerli even makes such determinations.
*780The record summarily states that a "Messerli shareholder review[s] the documentation provided to determine" the viability of a claim, (Docket # 50 at 11), but "[i]n the instant case, on October 20, 2017, a legal assistant with Messerli reviewed Boerner's file for suit." (Docket # 42 ¶ 8). The facts are unclear, and a reasonable jury could find that there was no professional judgment exercised regarding whether and how to pursue these claims.
Second, it does not appear that Messerli attorneys exercise any professional judgment in the review of the complaint. Defendants argue that "Messerli's expensive computer system...provides easy access to... account information allowing for an efficient review at the time of the summons and complaint review." (Docket # 50 at 14). Defendants do not describe what this "efficient review" entails, but note that although the client data is transferred electronically from LVNV to Messerli, "the data imported from clients is still reviewed by Messerli attorneys." (Docket # 52 at 2). It is hard to see how a data review is meaningfully different from the "ministerial review" that the Nielsen court rejected, and a jury could reasonably find in favor of Boerner on this factor.
Third, the pre-made, assembly-line fashion of the complaints, as well as the evidence of Kachelski's schedule could also confirm the "ministerial nature" of his review of these complaints. Additionally, although Messerli apparently had Boerner's file, there is no evidence that Kachelski reviewed this file in fashioning the complaint. Kachelski stated that he "examined [Boerner's] file information in Messerli's Cogent program to review the Summons and Complaint for accuracy." (Docket # 42 at 2). The Court notes that "reviewing the file information," i.e., reviewing data scraped from the file, is different from "reviewing the file." Thus, a reasonable jury could find in favor of Boerner on these factors as well. Finally, Defendants make much of the fact that, at some point after the filing of the complaint, another attorney was assigned to manage the file. However, those facts fail to demonstrate whether any attorney was meaningfully involved at the outset of the complaint, when Boerner asserts that his rights were violated.
In the end, there are simply too many material facts at issue here to resolve on summary judgment. Although there was certainly some attorney involvement, it is unclear whether there was meaningful attorney involvement. Therefore, this is an issue that must be submitted to a jury.
4.1.2.1 Materiality
In order to be actionable, the misrepresentation must be material, i.e., it must influence an unsophisticated consumer's decision as to when and whether to pay a debt. Hahn v. Triumph LLC ,
4.2 Emotional Damages
The evidence before the Court on damages is relatively thin, but not so insubstantial as to warrant summary judgment in Defendants' favor. Parties seeking emotional damages "must provide the court with a reasonably detailed explanation of the injuries suffered." Crafton v. Law Firm of Jonathan B. Levine ,
Boerner has met his burden of explaining the physical and mental effects of the LVNV lawsuit in sufficient detail for this stage of the litigation. He testified that he suffers a loss of appetite that resulted in him shedding ten pounds from an already frail frame (Docket # 51-1 at 118:10-11). He has increased his smoking to over a pack of cigarettes per day, id. at 118:2-3, and he experiences a chronic, low-grade headache as a result of the LVNV lawsuit, id. at 119:6-7, that intensifies in the evenings when he reviews the lawsuit materials, id. at 120:20-22. His hands shake from the nerves, id. at 114:12-16, and he has difficulty concentrating at work. Id. at 100:19-21. He describes his anxiety about this lawsuit as all-consuming, if not in those terms. Boerner is a 71-year-old veteran who has an annual physical exam approximately every year, and, aside from that, does not go to a doctor unless he is "almost dead." Id. at 132:1. His last medical exam was in October, 2017, therefore there are no medical records documenting his stress. Id. at 35:4. The weight and credibility of this evidence should go to the jury.
Moreover, Boerner's heightened stress appears to be directly related to the acceleration of the debt and the initiation of the state court lawsuit without the opportunity to cure the default. Defendants try to exploit Boerner's confusion between the state and federal court proceedings, and, at times, attempt to pin Boerner's stress on this federal lawsuit, which hardly makes sense. (Docket # 39 at 28). Boerner apparently believed that his deposition was for the LVNV state lawsuit, and was agitated because he believed that the LVNV state lawsuit would result in a garnishment of wages. (Docket 51-5 at 109:17-23, 110:2-5). He fears that the LVNV state court judgment will result in an unnegotiated garnishment that he cannot afford. Id. at 110:5. He is also concerned that such a garnishment will negatively affect his workplace reputation. Id. at 134:9-13.
5. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, Defendants' motions for summary judgment on the FDCPA claims and the issue of emotional damages will be denied. In addition to their motions for summary judgment, *782Defendants filed an uncontested motion to extend the trial schedule. (Docket # 54). However, when considered against the backdrop of the Court's comprehensive trial scheduling order issued on June 11, 2018 (Docket # 30), the motion becomes a non-starter and will be denied.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Messerli & Kramer PA's and LVNV Funding LLC's motions for summary judgment (Docket # 38 and # 45) be and the same are hereby DENIED ; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' unopposed motion for extension of time (Docket # 54) be and the same is hereby DENIED.
As of December 14, 2017, Boerner reports that Kachelski was an attorney of record in 590 cases in Dane County, 116 of which were "open," meaning there was no judgment yet entered. Additionally, he was entered in 383 cases in Brown County, 45 of which were open; 449 cases in Waukesha County, 71 which were open; 329 cases in Racine County, 67 of which were open; and 2,909 cases in Milwaukee County, 607 of which were open.
Defendants also argue that Boerner's claim under
Defendants argue that "open-ended accounts such as credit card accounts do not have a maturity...[so] there is no loan maturity date to accelerate with a credit card." (Docket # 50 at 4). Wis. Stat § 421.103 does not define the term "accelerate." The Court understands "acceleration" to occur when a debt previously paid via installments, (be it a mortgage, where acceleration clauses are common, or a credit card balance, where such clauses are less common), is called due. In the case of a mortgage, a loan maturity date might be accelerated; in the case of a credit card balance, a final payment due date. In both cases, the borrower would be required to pay the principal balance and interest immediately. Additionally, the statute generally refers to acceleration of the "maturity of a consumer credit transaction." Wis. Stat § 425.105. A loan can mature, or become due, at various points and under various conditions. The statute makes no reference to a "fixed maturity," which would imply a date certain that the debt matures. In any event, even if the Defendants had not accelerated the debt, they did commence an action, so the statutes still apply.
Defendants also take issue with Boerner's use of the phrase "accelerate the debt" rather than "accelerate the maturity date," but this is an acceptable turn of phrase. See Quorum ,
The Court is it not bound by the Wisconsin DFI's findings as they relate to federal law. Orthopaedic Hosp. v. Belshe ,
Defendants argue that the FDCPA applies only to communications with consumers, and does not extend to representations made to state court judges. (Docket # 39 at 16); O'Rourke v. Palisades Acquisition XVI, LLC ,
There is also evidence in the record that Boerner thought the debt was a scam because he did not understand the source of the debt or recognize various intermediary banks through which the debt had passed before arriving at LVNV. Id. at 127:6-15. Although this does not go to the merits of the action, it sheds light on the degree of confusion that an unsophisticated consumer feels when faced with the opaque, labyrinthian practices of the modern debt industry.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- George BOERNER v. LVNV FUNDING LLC and Messerli & Kramer PA
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published