In action by plaintiff-debtor alleging that defendant-debt collector violated venue provision of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 USC section 1692i, Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment, where defendant initiated debt collection action in wrong venue as explained in Suesz, 757 F.3d 636 (7th Cir. 2014). Ct. of Appeals rejected defendant’s claim that it was entitled to safe harbor provision of FDCPA that would excuse instant infraction since at time it initiated debt collection action instant venue was permissible under Newsom, 76 F.3d 813 (7th Cir. 1996), where Supreme Ct. in Jerman, 559 U.S. 573, held that FDCPA’s statutory safe harbor for bona fide mistakes did not apply to mistakes of law. Also, under Jerman, Dist. Ct. could not find that safe harbor provision protected some mistakes of law that were based on established case law that was later overruled as mistake. (Dissent filed.)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act