Lucero v. Bureau of Collection Recovery, No. 10-2122 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseThe plaintiff filed a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the New Mexico Collection Agency Regulatory Act. About six weeks later, the defendant filed an answer and a Rule 68 offer of judgment in the amount of $3,001 plus attorney fees. An offer of maximum recovery in a non-class action renders the case moot. The parties proceeded to file a joint status report and discovery plan. About eight months after the case was filed, defendant moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction due to mootness. Two months later, plaintiff moved for class certification. The court dismissed on the ground that there was no justiciable dispute because the defendant had offered to satisfy the claim before a class was certified. The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded, holding that the named plaintiff in a class action need not accept a Rule 68 offer of judgment or risk having the case dismissed as moot before the court has had a reasonable time to consider class certification. The personal stakes of the class members inhere before certification and cannot be extinguished by such an offer.
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