A District Court judge in New Jersey has partially granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit related to a rental dispute, allowing a claim over the amount the defendant said was owed in “base rent” to proceed because a least sophisticated consumer may not have understood that the defendant was referring to the total amount of rent that was due.
The background: The case arose from a dispute over unpaid rent following the termination of a lease.
- The defendant initiated two eviction proceedings against the plaintiff. In the first, the plaintiff was alleged to owe $5,663.63 in “base rent.” In the second, filed eight months later, the amount that was owed in “base rent” was $20,877.63.
- The plaintiff filed suit, alleging he was overcharged for rent, that he did not owe the landlord any outstanding rent payments, and that payments should have been covered by programs offered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suit was originally filed in New Jersey state court, after which the defendant removed the case to federal court and sought to have it dismissed.
The ruling: Judge Karen M. Williams of the District Court for the District of New Jersey agreed with the defendant on several points, dismissing claims tied to attorney’s fees and certain other challenged language used by the defendant. However, she allowed the claim related to “base rent” to move forward.
- The ruling explained that the FDCPA standard requires courts to assess how a “least sophisticated consumer” would interpret the communication. The judge found it plausible that such a consumer could be misled by the use of “base rent” without clarification.
- “It is at least reasonable that the least sophisticated consumer could be left uncertain as to whether additional sums were still owed beyond what was identified as base rent,” Judge Williams wrote in her ruling.
- Because the FDCPA protects against both deceptive and confusing language, the court ruled that the plaintiff’s claim on this issue was strong enough to survive dismissal.
