Are Federal Courts Turning the Corner on Article III Standing in FDCPA Case

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This presentation will focus on recent appellate decisions dismissing FDCPA no damage cases where the Plaintiff disclaimed any reliance on purported false statements and also disclaimed any actual damage.    

A Plaintiff filing suit in Federal Court must establishing standing under Article III of the Constitution. Standing requires a Plaintiff to have a tangible economic injury or where intangible harm is alleged, the claim must bear in close relationship to a harm recognized as a common law basis of liability.  

These bedrock constitutional principles apply when analyzing no damage (statutory) FDCPA claim.  Each of the appellate court cases have rejected claims and dismissed suits for lack of standing where there was no claim that a purported misleading communication failed to deceive the debtor.  

This presentation will examine the Article III standing principles in the United States Constitution, will examine recent cases dismissing FDCPA lawsuits for lack of standing under either the FDCPA’s prohibition against false, misleading or deceptive statements and/or the FDCPA’s debt’s disclosure requirements. 

This session will wrap up with practice pointers in defending FDCPA no damage suit based on defenses of lack of standing.

This webinar is pending CLE approval. 

Speakers

Ronald S. Canter, The Law Offices of Ronald S. Canter, LLC

Mr. Canter established The Law Offices of Ronald S. Canter, LLC of Rockville, Maryland in 2008. He is a member of the Bars of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice in federal courts through the United States, including the Supreme Court and several courts of appeal. Mr. Canter has been engaged in the private practice of law since 1980. He is a recognized authority on creditor’s rights and the regulation of collection practices. He has represented creditors, attorneys and collection agencies in complex litigation including class action defense in both Federal and state courts. Mr. Canter has successfully prosecuted appeals before state and federal courts on a number of significant issues involving the credit and collection industry. He appeared, as counsel of record, for the National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA) in Heintz v. Jenkins, the first Fair Debt Collection Practices case to reach the Supreme Court.

Andrew M. Schwartz, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP 

Andrew M. Schwartz is a Partner in the Philadelphia office of Gordon & Rees and is a member of the Commercial Litigation, Professional Liability, and Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights practice groups.  Mr. Schwartz' practice is largely devoted to matters regarding professional liability, concentrating on creditors' rights defense, defamation and privacy issues, business and commercial law, and legal malpractice matters. Mr. Schwartz defends all manner of financial institutions, debt servicers and buyers, auto finance companies, collection attorneys, student lenders, telecommunication providers, mortgage lenders and credit reporting agencies.