A District Court judge in Florida has granted a motion to dismiss filed by defendants in a Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case, ruling that the plaintiff is liable for her debts even though her divorce decree states that her now ex-husband would be responsible for them.
The Background: The plaintiff and her husband divorced in 2020. The former husband agreed to “take full responsibility” for paying certain debts that were in the plaintiff’s name as part of the divorce decree. The decree stated the payments would be made on time so that the plaintiff’s credit was not impacted and she was indemnified from any liability.
- But the payments weren’t made on time and the debts were charged off and placed with the defendants for collection. The plaintiff claims she was unable to obtain new lines of credit.
- The plaintiff sued the companies that lent her the money, a collection agency which purchased one of the charged off accounts, and the three credit bureaus. The plaintiff accused all of the defendants of violating the FCRA and the collection agency for violating the FDCPA.
The Ruling: The plaintiff claims she should not be held liable for the debts because of the provisions of her divorce decree and should not be suffering the adverse effects on her credit reports for payments being late.
- But state law in Florida does not bind a creditor to the terms of a divorce decree unless the creditor is a party to the decree itself, noted Judge Robin L. Rosenberg of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The decree had no legal effect on the plaintiff’s obligations to pay her debt, Judge Rosenberg determined.
- The only person that the plaintiff has a cause of action against is her ex-husband for not honoring the terms of the divorce agreement, the judge noted.
