Afewerki v. Anaya Law Group, No. 15-56510 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAnaya Law Group, a debt collector, filed suit in state court to collect an unpaid credit card debt, but the complaint overstated both debtor's principal due and the applicable interest rate. Debtor then filed suit against Anaya in federal court for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq., and of California's Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The district court granted summary judgment to Anaya. The Ninth Circuit held, however, that the false statements made by Anaya were material because they could have disadvantaged a hypothetical debtor in deciding how to respond to the complaint. Accordingly, the panel vacated summary judgment as to the FDCPA claim and remanded. In regard to the Rosenthal Act claim, the panel affirmed summary judgment on an alternative ground. The panel held that Anaya corrected the misstatements within fifteen days of discovering the violation and thus satisfied the requirements necessary to avail itself of a defense under the Rosenthal Act.
Court Description: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The panel affirmed in part and vacated in part the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendants in an action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A debt collector filed a complaint in state court to collect an unpaid credit card debt, but the complaint overstated both the debtor’s principal due and the applicable interest rate. The panel held that the false statements made by the debt collector were material because they could have disadvantaged a hypothetical debtor in deciding how to respond to the complaint. The panel therefore vacated the grant of summary judgment as to the FDCPA claim. The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment on the Rosenthal Act claim on the alternative ground that the debt collector corrected the misstatements within fifteen days of discovering the violation and thus satisfied the requirements necessary to avail itself of a defense under the Rosenthal Act. AFEWERKI V. ANAYA LAW GROUP 3
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