Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-03-04057/USCOURTS-ca8-03-04057-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
FMA Alliance
Appellee
Paul J. Schmitt
Appellant

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 03-4057

___________

Paul J. Schmitt, *

*

Plaintiff-Appellant, *

*

v. * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the

FMA Alliance, doing business as FMA * District of Minnesota.

Alliance, Ltd.; FMA Alliance, Limited *

Partnership; FMA Alliance, L.P., a * [TO BE PUBLISHED]

State of Texas Limited Partnership, *

*

Defendant-Appellee. *

___________

Submitted: November 19, 2004

Filed: February 9, 2005 (corrected 2/17/05)

___________

Before MURPHY, LAY, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Paul J. Schmitt incurred a debt to First Bank U.S.A. (“First Bank”). He failed

to pay the debt and he retained an attorney named William Michelson. Michelson

informed First Bank that he represented Schmitt on January 10, 2001, and again on

April 5, 2001. In both notices, Michelson advised First Bank that Schmitt was unable

to pay the debt, that Schmitt was advised of his Chapter 7 bankruptcy rights, and that

First Bank should advise its collection agency of Schmitt’s representation. Sometime

after receiving Michelson’s second notice, however, First Bank transferred Schmitt’s

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The Honorable Joan N. Ericksen, United States District Judge for the District

of Minnesota, presiding. 

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account to the Defendants (collectively, “FMA”) to collect from Schmitt. Thereafter,

on July 9, 2002, FMA sent a letter directly to Schmitt seeking immediate payment,

warning that interest will accrue on his account, and naming First Bank as the

creditor. 

Schmitt filed a complaint charging that the July 9th letter from FMA violated

the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2), which

prohibits a debt collector from contacting a debtor where the collection agency

“knows” the consumer is represented by an attorney. The Magistrate Judge (“MJ”)

construed § 1692c(a)(2) to require actual knowledge and reasoned that although First

Bank actually knew of Schmitt’s representation, FMA did not. See Report and

Recommendation of Chief Magistrate Judge Jonathan Lebedoff (“R&R”) at 7-8. The

district court1

 conducted a de novo review, adopted the MJ’s recommendation, and

dismissed the complaint without prejudice. See Order dated Nov. 14, 2003. Schmitt

now appeals. 

The FDCPA governs communication in connection with debt collection and

states that

(a) . . . Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the

debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent

jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in

connection with the collection of any debt . . .

(2) if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an

attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily

ascertain, such attorney’s name and address . . . .

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15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2) (emphasis added). The FDCPA is a consumer protection

statute that was created in response to abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection

practices. Some courts have construed the term “knows” to require actual knowledge;

others have held that the term refers to actual or implied knowledge. See, e.g.,

Powers v. Prof’l Credit Servs., 107 F. Supp. 2d 166, 169 (N.D.N.Y. 2000) (creditor’s

actual knowledge can be imputed to collection agent “when the creditor has such

knowledge and fails to convey it to . . . the debt collector”); but cf. Randolph v.

I.M.B.S., Inc., 368 F.3d 726, 729 (7th Cir. 2004) (stating that creditors’ knowledge

is not imputed to debt collectors). Our circuit has not yet addressed this issue. 

In this case, Schmitt’s complaint premised FMA’s liability on the theory that

a creditor’s actual knowledge of a debtor’s representation is imputed to its agent (i.e.,

the debt collection agency). Since First Bank possessed actual knowledge of

Schmitt’s representation prior to transferring collection of the debt to FMA, Schmitt

argued that First Bank’s actual knowledge should be imputed to FMA. 

In response, FMA brought a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. Pro.

12(b)(6), claiming the FDCPA requires a plaintiff to plead that the debt collector had

actual knowledge of the plaintiff’s representation. We affirm the district court’s

dismissal of Schmitt’s complaint without prejudice and hold that a plaintiff must

plead actual knowledge under the FDCPA in order to state a claim upon which relief

may be granted. 

The theory of implied knowledge contradicts established agency law, which

dictates that while the knowledge of the agent is imputed to the principal, the

converse is not true. See S.O.G.-San Ore-Gardner v. Mo. Pac. R.R. Co., 658 F.2d

562, 567 (8th Cir. 1981) (stating that an agent cannot be imputed with information

which the principal failed to disclose); Siharath v. Citifinancial Servs. (In re:

Siharath), 285 B.R. 299, 304 (Bankr. D. Minn. 2002) (holding that while an agent’s

knowledge is imputed to the principal due to the identity of interests that is presumed

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when an agent acts within the scope of an agency relation, this rule “does not operate

in the converse, and the agent cannot be imputed with the information which its

principal has failed to give it”); Waswick v. Stutsman County Bank (In re: Waswick),

212 B.R. 350, 353 & n.3 (Bankr. D. N.D. 1997).

Schmitt acknowledges this general principle of agency law, but claims that the

FDCPA creates a specific exception to this rule. He highlights two cases to support

his position: Powers, supra, and Micare v. Foster & Garbus, 132 F. Supp. 2d 77

(N.D.N.Y. 2001). In Powers, the court concluded that the FDCPA imposed a duty

on the creditor to convey the material facts of the matter to the debt collector,

including information regarding the attorney’s representation of the debtor. See 107

F. Supp. 2d at 169. In Micare, the court held that a creditor’s knowledge could be

imputed to the debt collector where the creditor knew of the plaintiff’s representation

prior to transferring the file to the collector. See 132 F. Supp. 2d at 80. The Micare

court reasoned that “[a]lthough the FTC Commentary [on the FDCPA] states that

knowledge will not ‘automatically’ be imputed to the debt collector, it does not state

that such knowledge cannot be imputed.” Id. at 80. 

We decline to follow either Powers or Micare and embrace the FDCPA as a

special exception to general agency law. First, there is no textual basis within the

statute to suggest that an exception to such a well-settled rule was intended. Second,

“[a] distinction between creditors and debt collectors is fundamental to the FDCPA,

which does not regulate creditors’ activities at all.” Randolph, 368 F.3d at 729.

Thus, we have no authority to place a duty upon First Bank. Third, even if the

FDCPA creates an exception allowing a principal’s knowledge to be imputed to the

agent under narrow circumstances, it is not clear on this record whether the

relationship between a creditor and its debt collector is one of principal-agent. For

instance, Schmitt claimed that FMA was the agent of First Bank, but in Randolph, the

court stated that “debt collectors are independent contractors . . . .” Id. Even if we

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hold as Schmitt requests, it appears we would not necessarily find the nexus for

liability that Schmitt seeks. 

Accordingly, the decision of the district court is AFFIRMED.

______________________________

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