Woods v. LVNV Funding, Inc.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-debt collectors’ motion for summary judgment in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) action, alleging that defendants used false representations or deceptive means to collect on plaintiff’s alleged debt. Record showed that: (1) plaintiff was victim of identity theft when unknown third-party used plaintiff’s identity to obtain credit card; (2) third-party used credit card to obtain airplane ticket; and (3) defendants attempted to collect on unpaid credit card bill. While airline eventually agreed with plaintiff that he had not purchased airplane ticket, it initially told plaintiff that its investigation revealed that he had indeed purchased said ticket. Also, plaintiff failed to establish that defendants’ statements made in its collection letter were “false” for purposes of FDCPA, where plaintiff knew he had not purchased ticket, and thus knew that defendants’ letters were only sent in “error.” As such, because defendants’ letters to plaintiff would not have influenced plaintiff to pay debt, they were not “false” for purposes of FDCPA. Ct. also found that defendants did not violate Fair Credit Reporting Act, based on plaintiff’s claim that defendants should have performed more thorough investigation on his identity theft claim, where: (1) defendants were aware that airline had initially found that plaintiff had actually purchased ticket with credit card; and (2) defendants’ subsequent and repeated requests for more information about identity theft claim were appropriate, where vendor had already resolved identify theft claim against plaintiff.