- Citation:
- Case No. No. 09-50975 (5th Cir 2010) (no West citation available yet)
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- Congress did not intend to preempt state law concerning collectibility of debts and, thus, Texas law provides the applicable limitations period for the collection of "lawful charges" under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
- Procedural context:
- Affirmed the district court's dismissal of the class complaint.
- Facts:
- The plaintiff/appellant filed an action on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, alleging violations of the FDCPA based on the defendants/appellees' attempts to collect a mobile phone bill that was more than three years old. He argued that the federal statute's two-year limitation applied to collection of debts, and the district court initially agreed in certifying the class. After certifying the class, however, the district court became persuaded that state statute of limitations should apply to the collection of the debts at issue, and he dismissed the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6). In this appeal, the Fifth Circuit addressed whether Congress intended its two-year statute of limitations to preempt the state's four-year statute. Concluding that the term "lawful charges" under the FDCPA was ambiguous, and assuming that "Congress did not intend to preempt 'the historic police powers of the states,' absent a showing that this was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress,'" the court of appeals held that the state statute applied. Thus, the three-year-old charges were still collectable at the time the defendants/appellees sought to collect them.
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