Geiger et al v. Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center et al
Filing
78
ORDER granting 51 motion to dismiss. Signed by Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. on 3/29/2017. (VMF)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
RICHARD GEIGER; and DENIS
TWOMEY
Plaintiffs,
v.
Case No. 6:16-cv-1477-Orl37GJK
FLORIDA HOSPITAL MEMORIAL
MEDICAL CENTER; ACCELERATED
CLAIMS, INC.; and HALIFAX
HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER OF
DAYTONA BEACH,
Defendants.
_____________________________________
ORDER
In the instant action, Plaintiffs assert claims against Defendants for violations of
the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices
Act. (Doc. 1.) Defendants Accelerated Claims Inc. and Halifax Health Medical Center of
Daytona Beach move to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state claims upon which
relief can be granted. (Docs. 51, 53.) Concurrently, Defendant Florida Hospital Memorial
Medical Center moves for judgment on the pleadings or, alternatively, summary
judgment. (Doc. 62.) Plaintiffs responded to each of Defendants’ motions (Docs. 57, 63),
and Defendant Florida Hospital filed a reply in support of its alternative motion for
summary judgment (Doc. 64). For the reasons set forth below, Accelerated Claims Inc.’s
motion to dismiss is due to be granted, and the Court declines to exercise supplemental
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jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims.
I.
BACKGROUND
On January 27, 2016, Plaintiff Richard Geiger (“Geiger”) received medical care at
Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center (“Florida Hospital”) for injuries he sustained
in a motor vehicle accident. (See Doc. 1, ¶¶ 1, 24.) Two days later, on behalf of Florida
Hospital and pursuant to Volusia County’s hospital lien law (“Hospital Lien Law”),
Accelerated Claims Inc. (“ACI”) sent Geiger a copy of a hospital lien claiming the amount
owed for medical treatment—$1,840.75. (See Doc. 1-1 (“Geiger Lien”).) The Geiger Lien
indicated that it “[did] not represent any action or judgment against Richard Geiger” and
that “it [was] limited to only proceeds arising from automobile insurance”
(“Disclaimer”). (See id.) In addition, the Geiger Lien identified Geico Insurance Company
(“Geico”) as the party liable for Geiger’s medical charges. (Id.)
Some months later, on May 1, 2016, Plaintiff Denis Twomey (“Twomey”) received
medical care at Halifax Medical Center of Daytona Beach (“Halifax”). (See Doc. 1, ¶ 26.)
Thereafter, Halifax sent Twomey a copy of a hospital lien claiming entitlement to the
amount of medical charges that Twomey incurred at Halifax—$21,777. (See Doc. 1-2
(“Twomey Lien”) collectively with the Geiger Lien, “Hospital Liens”.) The Twomey Lien
also identified Geico as the party liable for Twomey’s damages but did not contain a
Disclaimer. (See id.)
Based on a recent Florida Supreme Court decision, which concluded that Alachua
County’s hospital lien law was unconstitutional under the Florida Constitution, see
Shands Teaching Hosp. and Clinics, Inc. v. Mercury Ins. Co. of Fla., 97 So. 3d 204, 207
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(Fla. 2012), Plaintiffs allege that the Hospital Lien Law is also unconstitutional under the
Florida Constitution. (Doc. 1, ¶ 21.) Consequently, Plaintiffs contend that the Hospital
Liens are invalid. (See id. ¶¶ 8, 12.)
Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs initiated the instant putative class action alleging
that Defendants violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and the
Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) by asserting and attempting to
collect on the Hospital Liens. (See id ¶¶ 42–69.) Specifically, Geiger asserts: (1) an FDCPA
claim against ACI (“Count I”); (2) an FCCPA claim against ACI (“Count II”); and (3) an
FCCPA claim against Florida Hospital (“Count III”). Twomey asserts a single FCCPA
claim against Halifax (“Count IV”). (Id. ¶¶ 63–69.)
ACI and Halifax now move to dismiss the Counts alleged against them with
prejudice. (Docs. 51, 53 (“MTDs”).) Florida Hospital separately moves for judgment on
the pleadings as to Count III under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) or, alternatively,
for summary judgment. (Doc. 62.) The motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for
the Court’s consideration.
II.
LEGAL STANDARDS
A pleading must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that
the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “[D]etailed factual allegations” are
not required, but “[a] pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic
recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662,
678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Rather, “a
complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief
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that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570).
Under Rule 12(b)(6), a party may request dismissal of a pleading that falls short of
these pleadings requirements. In resolving such motions, courts limit their consideration
to the face of the complaint, its attachments, “documents incorporated into the complaint
by reference, and matters of which a court may take judicial notice.” See Tellabs, Inc. v.
Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322–23 (2007); see also Hoefling v. City of Miami,
811 F.3d 1271, 1277 (11th Cir. 2016). Dismissal is warranted if, assuming the truth of the
factual allegations of the complaint and drawing all reasonable inferences in a plaintiff’s
favor, there is a dispositive legal issue which precludes relief. Neitzke v. Williams,
490 U.S. 319, 326 (1989); see also Bailey v. Wheeler, 843 F.3d 473, 480 (11th Cir. 2016).
III.
A.
ANALYSIS
FDCPA Claim
To plead an FDCPA claim, a plaintiff must allege facts showing that: (1) he has
been the object of collection activity arising from a consumer debt; (2) the defendant is a
debt collector as defined by the FDCPA; and (3) the defendant has engaged in an act or
omission prohibited by the FDCPA. See 15 U.S.C. § 1692e; see also Reese v. Ellis, Painter
Ratterree & Adams, LLP, 678 F.3d 1211, 1216 (11th Cir. 2012); Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co.
v. Foxx, 971 F. Supp. 2d. 1106, 1114 (M.D. Fla. 2013). ACI attacks the first two elements,
contending that, under the FDCPA: (1) the Geiger Lien is not debt collection activity
(“Debt Collection Activity Argument”); and (2) ACI is not a debt collector (“Debt
Collector Argument”). (Doc. 51, pp. 6–12.) Each argument is addressed below.
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1.
Debt Collection Activity Argument
Because “the FDCPA does not define ‘debt collection,’” the courts have been
required to identify “debt collection” activity on a case-by-case basis. See Warren v.
Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 342 F. App’x 458, 460 (2009) 1 (affirming “district court’s
conclusion that foreclosing on a security interest is not debt collection activity”). Here,
ACI contends that the Geiger Lien is not debt collection as a matter of law, but it cites no
controlling law to that effect. 2 This matter of first impression in a developing area of the
law is not easily resolved at the pleading stage.
Generally, courts have found FDCPA claims actionable where a communication is
not itself a collection attempt but is merely connected to one. See Grden v. Leikin Ingber &
Winters PC, 643 F.3d 169, 173 (6th Cir. 2011); see also Parker v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc.,
874 F. Supp. 2d 1353, 1357 (M.D. Fla. 2012) (citing Grden with approval). The U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has yet to draw a bright line rule for determining
when a communication is “connected” to a collection attempt; nonetheless, persuasive
authority provides that the requisite connection is satisfied if a communication aims to
make such collection more likely to succeed—that is, if the communication’s animating
1 While
unpublished opinions are not binding precedent, they may be considered
as persuasive authority. See 11th Cir. R. 36-2; see also United States v. Almedina,
686 F.3d 1312, 1316 n.1 (11th Cir. 2012).
2 ACI cites one case where a Florida court recognized in dicta that the filing of a
hospital lien may “be a step in eventually obtaining payment on a debt.” See Baker v.
Baptist Hosp., Inc., 115 So. 3d 1123, 1125 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013). The Court declines to apply
Baker here, as its ultimate holding concerned the “trade or commerce” requirement of a
Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim, Baker, 115 So. 3d at 1124, which
is not a requirement under the FDCPA.
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purpose is to induce payment by the debtor. See Grden, 643 F.3d at 173; Gburek v. Litton
Loan Servicing LP, 614 F.3d 380, 385 (7th Cir. 2010).
Courts look at such communications objectively, considering several factors,
Gburek, 614 F.3d at 386, including, the relationship between the parties and the content
and context of the communication. See Caceres, 755 F.3d at 1303; Gburek, 614 F.3d at 38586. As such, the absence of an explicit demand for payment is not necessarily dispositive
of whether the animating purpose of a communication is to make collection more likely.
See Caceres, 755 F.3d at 1303 n.2 (citing Gburek, 614 F.3d at 384–87.)
A communication concerning any debt can have more than one purpose, Reese,
678 F.3d at 1217, and ACI’s communication concerning the Geiger Lien is no exception.
“Animating,” or not, at least one purpose of the Geiger Lien is to provide notice to Geico
of the existence of the debt and put it on notice that payments to Geiger without
satisfaction of the hospital debt will be at Geico’s peril. But another purpose is
undoubtedly to secure payment from Geiger, either directly or from his anticipated
insurance proceeds. Indeed, it would defy logic to deny that the principle goal here is to
secure payment of the debt. Further, ACI’s identification of Geico as the liable party does
not necessarily compel the inference that Florida Hospital—through ACI or otherwise—
will not seek to collect the debt from Geiger if they receive less than full payment from
Geico. Plainly a close question, the Court need not resolve the Debt Collection Activity
Argument at the pleading stage in this case because—as explained below—ACI is not a
debt collector under the FDCPA.
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2.
Debt Collector Argument
Under the FDCPA, a “debtor collector” includes, inter alia: (1) “any person who
uses an instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal
purpose of which is the collection of any debts”; or (2) any person “who regularly collects
or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or
due another.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). But this term does not include “any person collecting
or attempting to collect any debt . . . owed or due another to the extent that such activity
. . . concerns a debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person .
. . .” 15 U.S.C. § 1692(a)(6)(F)(iii) (“Exclusion”). Here, ACI argues that it falls within the
Exclusion because the underlying debt was not in default at the time it filed the Geiger
Lien. (See Doc. 51, p. 9.) The Court agrees.
The Exclusion covers a person who has “obtained” a debt not in default. See
15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)(F)(iii). While not defined in the statute, courts have routinely applied
this language to mortgage servicers, purchasers, and assignees of the debt. See, e.g., Fenello
v. Bank of Am., NA, 577 F. App’x 899, 902 (11th Cir. 2014); see also Perry v. Stewart Title Co.,
756 F.2d 1197, 1208 (5th Cir. 1985).
In Carter v. AMC, LLC, the Seventh Circuit grappled with the difficult question of
whether an agent who is authorized to undertake collection activity has “obtained” a
debt. 645 F.3d 840, 843 (7th Cir. 2011). If so, and the debt is not in default, the Exclusion
would unquestionably apply based on the straightforward language of the statute. The
Carter court concluded that an entity may “obtain” a debt when it “acquires the authority
to collect the money on behalf of another.” Id. at 844. Persuaded by the Carter rationale,
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the Court concludes that ACI acquired such authority and, therefore, “obtained” the debt
underlying the Geiger Lien when it became Florida Hospital’s “authorized agent.” (See
Doc. 1-1.) Having filed the Geiger Lien just two days after Geiger received medical care,
the debt was not yet in default. (See Doc. 1, ¶ 24.) Hence the Exclusion applies and ACI is
not a debt collector under the FDCPA on these facts. Therefore, the FDCPA claim is due
to be dismissed.
B.
FCCPA Claims
Having dismissed the federal FDCPA claim, the Court declines to exercise
supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3).
IV.
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
1.
Defendant Accelerated Claims, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss Counts I and II of
Class Action Complaint with Prejudice, and Incorporated Memorandum of
Law (Doc. 51) is GRANTED to the extent set forth in this Order.
2.
Plaintiff’s Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as to Count I
(Doc. 1, ¶¶ 42–48).
3.
The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining
state-law claims and they are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
(Doc. 1, ¶¶ 49–69).
4.
The Clerk is DIRECTED to terminate all pending motions and to close the
file.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Florida, on March 29, 2017.
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Copies to:
Counsel of Record
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