FORT MYERS — A Florida man whose home mortgage was turned over to debt collection services was denied his request for a hearing regarding his lawsuit that alleges violations of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Florida's Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA).
According to the May 7 U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida Fort Myers Division filing, defendants Fay Servicing LLC and McCalla, Raymer, Leibert, Pierce, (MRLP) LLC, petitioned the court to dismiss plaintiff, Paul Meyer's allegations of unlawful debt collection.
The case arose from Meyer's delinquent home mortgage, which was obtained by Fay Servicing. As part of the efforts to collect the debt from Meyer, the MRLP law firm listing the monetary amount Meyer needed to pay off to reinstate his mortgage. However, Meyers argues the letter did not "properly itemize and disclose all the fees and costs" involved in his mortgage reinstatement and what fees are part of the "corporate advances category."
Meyer alleges he is not able to "determine the validity" of what is owed to Fay Servicing, which violates the FDCPA and FCCPA.
The defendants argue that Meyer "lacks standing" and that he did not "state a claim for relief under the FCCPA and FDCPA." The defendants also argue that the court "should refrain from exercising supplemental jurisdiction" of Meyer's FCCPA allegations. Meyer cites "injury" due to the letter's lack of itemization and explanation regarding the amount he owes.
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell disagreed with the defendants and stated "The plaintiff’s allegation that he was deprived of the right to information is sufficient to confer standing under the FDCPA" and that the defendant's violations "are enough to confer standing without any additional showing of harm."
However, Polster Chappell agreed with the defendants in Meyer's failure to show Fay Servicing or MRLP had "actual knowledge" that his debt was not legitimate and to "allege any facts upon which the court can draw reasonable inference."
Therefore the court dismissed Meyer's FCCPA claims while denying the dismissal of Meyer's FDCPA counts against the defendants. The court also ruled that Meyer's requested hearing was "unnecessary."