Klein v. The Affiliated Group, Inc., No. 19-3562 (8th Cir. 2021)
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Plaintiff filed suit against two debt collectors, TAG and CMLP, alleging that they violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in attempting to collect debt related to her treatment at North Memorial Health Care.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the debt collectors, concluding that the assignment of a contract is enough to put the assignee into privity with an original party to that contract under Minnesota law. In this case, the record before the district court established that there was a written agreement between North Memorial and CMLP due to TAG's assignment. Therefore, there is no dispute over a material fact and summary judgment on this issue was proper. The court also concluded that the district court did not err when it granted summary judgment under 15 U.S.C. 1692(e) where CMLP was the valid assignee of the contract between North Memorial and TAG; CMLP could legally take action to collect that debt on behalf of North Memorial, and CMLP did not violate section 1692e by saying as much; and even viewing all of this from the perspective of the unsophisticated consumer, no reasonable jury would believe that there was any deception. Finally, the court concluded that the district court properly interpreted section 1692e(5) and 1692f(1) and that, because TAG and CMLP are not hospital organizations and do not operate hospital facilities, the Treasury Department regulations governing North Memorial do not apply.
Court Description: [Kobes, Author, with Shepherd and Stras, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Plaintiff's creditor hospital hired defendant Affiliated to collect her debt to it, and Affiliated's assignment of the contact to defendant CMLP created a contract between the creditor hospital and CMLP; the letter CMLP sent saying it could collect the debt owed the hospital was, therefore, true and did not violate 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1692e; neither Affiliated nor CMLOP were required to comply with an agreement between the creditor hospital and the State of Minnesota concerning billing regulations, and the letters the two organizations sent plaintiff are outside the scope of the Minnesota Treasury Department's regulations.
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