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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Utah District Court says FDCPA does not bar state law claims

Courts Debt Collection FDCPA State Issues

Courts

On January 23, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah denied a debt collector’s motion to dismiss a plaintiff’s claim that the debt collector’s practices violated the Utah Consumer Sales Protection Act (UCSPA). After the plaintiff sued the debt collector for allegedly collecting amounts in excess of what was actually owed in violation of the FDCPA and the UCSPA, the debt collector moved to dismiss the claim under UCSPA because a more specific statute, the FDCPA, controls. In denying the motion, the court found that the plaintiff should not be denied remedies under UCSPA simply because a more specific federal law exists. The court noted that the UCSPA claim would only be barred if there were a more specific state statute that regulated debt collection and the debt collector did not identify one.