A District Court judge in Pennsylvania has granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit, ruling that the plaintiff appeared to be “acting in bad faith” because the suit contained “patently frivolous and faulty legal interpretations and arguments.”
A copy of the ruling in the case of Murray v. Capio Partners can be accessed by clicking here.
The plaintiff filed suit after receiving a collection letter from the defendant. In her suit, the plaintiff claimed the defendant violated Section 1692d(1) of the FDCPA by threatening in the letter that a negative entry on her credit report would be made if the debt was not repaid, Section 1692d(2) by allegedly using obscene and profane language to abuse the plaintiff, Section 1692e(2)(a) by making a false representation about the amount of the debt, and Section 1692j(a) by furnishing a deceptive form.
The defendant moved to strike the complaint, and in the alternative, have it dismissed. The defendant argued the plaintiff relied upon “frivolous sovereign citizen-style conspiracies” in filing her suit. Only striking some of the complaint, Judge Marilyn J. Horan of the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania then moved to determine whether to dismiss the remaining counts of the complaint.
The plaintiff complained that the following statement in the letter was intended to harm her reputation:
As required by law, you are hereby notified that a negative credit report reflecting on your credit record may be submitted to a credit reporting agency if you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit obligations. But we will not submit a negative credit report to a credit reporting agency about this credit obligation until the expiration of the time period described on the back of this letter. Also we will not report this credit obligation to any credit reporting agency unless that reporting complies with the credit reporting agency’s rules.
But Judge Horan recognized there was nothing in the statement to harm the plaintiff’s reputation and dismissed the count.
On the count the defendant used profane or obscene language, the plaintiff identified the following phrases from the letter:
- Total amount of debts now (sum of multiple)
- Contact us about your payment options
- Pay online at go.capiopay.com or scan the QR code below
- Make your check payable to Capio Partners. Include the Capio Account #: 29464968
“All of the language in Capio’s letter, as cited by Ms. Murray, is typical, benign informational language that often appears in a collection letter,” Judge Horan wrote in dismissing that count.
Judge Horan also dismissed the count accusing the defendant of violating the FDCPA because it listed the amount of the debt in the letter as $721.94 — indicating a positive balance — instead of -$721.94.
Finally, in denying leave to amend the complaint, Judge Horan wrote, “… amendment is not warranted for the additional reason that Ms. Murray appears to be acting in bad faith through the filing of this action, which contains patently frivolous and faulty legal interpretations and arguments.”
