District Court affirms FDCPA case dismissal

Courts FDCPA

On December 21, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon affirmed the dismissal of an FDCPA case after it granted a debt collector’s motion to dismiss in March 2023 because the plaintiff’s claims were filed outside of the one-year statute of limitations. The plaintiff contended that the court made a clear error by dismissing their claim as untimely without considering the potential impact of equitable tolling on the limitations period. The court held that the plaintiff's request for reconsideration based on equitable tolling was not raised in response to the defendant’s motion to dismiss and was declined. Plaintiff also referenced a new legal precedent, set earlier this year, arguing that it impacts the timing of their claims under the FDCPA. However, the court found this reference untimely and unrelated to the original motion. As previously covered in InfoBytes, the referenced case established that both serving and filing a lawsuit could be independent violations of the FDCPA, depending on certain conditions. However, in this case, where service occurred after filing, the court determined that it did not constitute a new FDCPA violation. Therefore, the court denied the plaintiff's motion for reconsideration based on this precedent.