Midland Debt Collection Lawsuit Gets Class Cert.

On Monday, a federal judge certified a Class of New Jersey consumers who allege Midland Credit Management Inc. sent debt collection letters that violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Plaintiff Luzvimid Nepomuceno claims that Midland, a California-based company, sent a total of 30,156 debt collection letters without any basis for the due dates listed on the statement. These letters were sent to New Jersey residents between Sept, 12, 2013 and Jan 6. 2015, according to court documents.

Nepomuceno provided sufficient evidence for U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to grant certification of the Class alleging FDCPA violations.

“Although the potential class size in this matter is large, the due date claims are not particularly complex nor, as discussed above, are there many individual issues relevant to the due date claims,” Judge Wigenton stated in her approval of granting class certification.

Judge Wigenton did, however, deny class certification to a proposed group of consumers who alleged claims over interest fees Midland allegedly sought, saying that there were too many individual questions to allow the claims to proceed as a Class.

Nepomuceno’s amended complaint filed in August 2015 alleged that Midland sent her a statement attempting to collect a credit card debt that was allegedly owed to Midland Funding LLC, an affiliate that purchased unpaid debt from Asset Acceptance LLC.

According to court records, the original creditor on the debt was Citibank NA, and the original debt was charged off in 2012.

Nepomuceno’s statement indicated that she owed a total of $7,919.80, which included $231.27 in interest, with a due date of Oct. 29, 2013 listed, according to court documents.

In addition to failing to provide a legal basis for the due date, Nepomuceno also alleged that Midland violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when seeking an interest charge, saying that Midland was not allowed to collect interest in the charged-off debt until Jan. 6, 2015. She also alleged that the six percent interest rate Midland listed was not permitted by state law or as part of the original credit card agreement.

Judge Wigenton ruled that the plaintiff met criteria for class certification since the group was ascertainable from Midland’s records, and that the claims involved common issues among Class Members. She also noted that a class action was more favorable to plaintiffs than individual lawsuits because plaintiffs could pursue additional damages.

As for the claims over interest charges, Judge Wigenton said that the interest rates charged to proposed Class Members could vary as well as “whether each putative class member’s debt was charged off before the interest allegedly owed to Midland Funding began to accrue.”

Nepomuceno is represented by Andrew R. Wolf and Bharati Sharma Patel of The Wolf Law Firm and Lawrence C. Hersh.

The Midland Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Nepomuceno v. Midland Credit Management Inc., et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-05719, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.