Archer v. Connors

Summary

The court denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss an action alleging that a foreclosure-related notice violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The court held that the claim was not barred by the FDCPA’s one-year statute of limitations because the limitations period ran from, at the earliest, service of the foreclosure complaint and notice rather than filing of the foreclosure action. The defendant was ordered to file an answer by March 11, 2014.

Holdings

1. For purposes of the FDCPA's one-year statute of limitations, a claim based on allegedly false or misleading statements in a notice attached to a foreclosure complaint accrues no earlier than the notice's service and communication to the debtor; the claim was therefore not time-barred when Plaintiffs filed suit on December 30, 2013.
2. A Rule 12(b)(6) motion should be granted only when the complaint fails to state a plausible claim for relief, accepting well-pleaded factual allegations as true while disregarding allegations that are merely legal conclusions.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiffs' FDCPA claim was barred by the one-year statute of limitations in 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) because the foreclosure complaint was filed more than one year before the federal action.
2. Whether the limitations period for an FDCPA claim based on allegedly false or misleading statements in a notice attached to a foreclosure complaint begins when the foreclosure action is filed or when the notice is served and communicated to the debtor.

Disposition

other