De Amaral et al v. Goldsmith & Hull et al

Filing 54

ORDER by Judge Hamilton granting 49 Motion to Strike (pjhlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/25/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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MERVYN L. DE AMARAL, et al.,
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Plaintiffs,

No. C 12-3580 PJH

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v.
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ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
STRIKE

GOLDSMITH & HULL, et al.,
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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Defendants.
_______________________________/

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Plaintiffs’ motion to strike defendants’ affirmative defenses came on for hearing

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before this court on April 24, 2013. Plaintiffs Mervyn De Amaral and Jody Lin De Amaral

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(“plaintiffs”) appeared through their counsel, Fred Schwinn. Defendants Goldsmith & Hull

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and Eric Scott Mintz (“defendants”) appeared through their counsel, Jack Hull. Having read

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the papers filed in conjunction with the motion and carefully considered the arguments and

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relevant legal authority, and good cause appearing, the court hereby GRANTS plaintiffs’

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motion to strike for the reasons stated at the hearing, and as follows.

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As an initial matter, the court does not favor motions to strike, and agrees with

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defendants that affirmative defenses need not be pled with great factual detail. However, in

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this case, defendants have asserted twenty boilerplate affirmative defenses without any

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regard to whether the defenses are applicable to plaintiffs’ claims, or whether they are

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duplicative of each other, or whether they are even affirmative defenses at all. The court

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further finds that, even though detailed factual allegations are not necessary, defendants

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must provide at least some factual basis for their asserted defenses. For those reasons,

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plaintiffs’ motion to strike is GRANTED, with leave to amend. Defendants shall have until

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May 15, 2013 to file an amended answer, which shall include only non-duplicative defenses

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that apply to a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim or a Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection

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Practices claim, and which shall provide factual bases for any asserted defenses.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: April 25, 2013
______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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