Miami partner Joseph A. Sacher and Senior Counsel Andrew R. Schindler secured a Federal Court Order granting their client summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claims under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act ("FDCPA") and the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act ("FCCPA").
The plaintiff alleged that the firm’s client violated state and federal debt collection statutes by repeatedly calling the plaintiff to collect a debt that the plaintiff’s granddaughter owed, despite plaintiff allegedly instructing the client to cease calling and informing the client that her granddaughter could not be located at the number dialed. The court initially dismissed the plaintiff’s FCCPA claim with prejudice, paring down the plaintiff’s claims, but dismissed the remaining FDCPA claims without prejudice, finding it to be a shotgun pleading. After plaintiff amended the complaint to add new claims, the court denied the plaintiff’s subsequent motion that sought to further amend the First Amended Complaint to assert additional claims under the FDCPA.
The firm’s team then moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiff’s remaining claims because the plaintiff was not a “consumer” under the FDCPA and no reasonable juror could find that the client used any false, deceptive, or misleading means to collect on a debt. The U.S. District Court agreed with the client on both grounds, granted summary judgment, and entered final judgment in favor of the client.