Hunstein Ruling Pushing More Cases Back to State Court

In a ruling that is emblematic of what is happening in Hunstein cases across the country, a District Court judge in North Carolina has used the Eleventh Circuit’s en banc ruling to determine that a plaintiff does not have standing to sue in federal court and remanded the case back to state court where it was originally filed.

Ruling: A copy of the ruling in the case of Jenkins v. LTD Financial Services can be accessed by clicking here.

Background: The plaintiff filed this suit in North Carolina state court, alleging the defendant violated Section 1692c(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by using a third-party vendor to print and mail a collection letter that was sent to the plaintiff. The plaintiff subsequently filed an amended complaint adding a claim that the defendant also violated Section 1692f of the FDCPA as well as claims under the North Carolina Debt Collection Act, the North Carolina Collection Agency Act, and the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Ruling:

The defendant attempted to argue that the plaintiff suffered a concrete injury because his private information was allegedly disclosed publicly, but as Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., of the District Court for the Western District of North Carolina noted, the plaintiff never claimed that such a public disclosure occurred. Instead, the plaintiff claimed that the vendor populated his information into a pre-formatted template, printed the letter, and then mailed it. Because he never alleged that anyone actually read or saw his private information, an invasion of privacy did not occur, the judge ruled.