Opinion ID: 777656
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The October 28 Letter

Text: 38 Kropelnicki also asserts two claims that the October 28 letter violated the FDCPA: (1) that it constituted an improper contact with her, since defendants knew she was represented by an attorney; and (2) that it contained false, deceptive, or misleading representations made in connection with the collection of the debt. Those claims are not barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because they are not inextricably intertwined with the state court determination, since Kropelnicki did not have the opportunity to litigate them in the debt collection action. The letter was mailed more than two months after the state court judgment was entered, and our exercise of jurisdiction over Kropelnicki's claims in regard to the letter could not affect the judgment. 39 The district court dismissed Kropelnicki's claims based on the letter for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, holding that: (1) because the letter was addressed solely to Evanauskas, it could not constitute a communication with Kropelnicki at all; and (2) Kropelnicki did not have standing to claim that the letter violated the FDCPA because Kropelnicki did not stand in the shoes of Evanauskas. 7 We review de novo a district court's dismissal of a complaint, taking all factual allegations in the complaint as true and construing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Conboy v. AT & T Corp., 241 F.3d 242, 246 (2d Cir.2001). 40 Kropelnicki first argues that the court improperly dismissed her claim that the letter constituted an improper communication made to a represented party because there were possible scenarios under which Mrs. Kropelnicki could have properly read the letter, which itself shows there is a set of facts which plaintiff could prove to sustain her allegations. We disagree. In order to make out this claim, Kropelnicki must first show that the letter was a communication to her. This she cannot do because the letter was only addressed to Evanauskas, and was therefore not a communication with Kropelnicki at all. 41 For the same reason, Kropelnicki has no standing to claim that the contents of the letter violated the FDCPA. Even if the letter contained language that was threatening or misleading, it was not threatening or misleading as to Kropelnicki because it was not addressed to her. Put another way, prohibited language in the letter sent to Evanauskas cannot create a cause of action for Kropelnicki merely because she read the letter containing the threat. Accordingly, we conclude that there is no set of facts under which Kropelnicki could state a claim based on the October 28 letter. 42 Kropelnicki also argues that we should reverse the district court's denial of her request to amend her complaint. We review the denial of leave to amend a complaint for abuse of discretion. Koehler v. Bank of Bermuda (New York) Ltd., 209 F.3d 130, 138 (2d Cir.2000). While generally leave to amend should be freely granted, see Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), it may be denied when there is a good reason to do so, such as futility, bad faith, or undue delay. Chill v. General Elec. Co., 101 F.3d 263, 271-72 (2d Cir.1996). In denying Kropelnicki's motion for leave to amend, the court stated that, [p]laintiff makes no new argument, nor does she attempt to allege facts in her proposed amended complaint, controverting the Court's prior determination that she lacked standing to sue on the October 28 letter to her daughter. Kropelnicki's proposed amended complaint merely added to her original complaint the facts asserted in her opposition papers to defendants' motion to dismiss. Because the district court's initial ruling took these facts into consideration, holding that they did not state a claim, her proposed amended complaint offered no new facts or allegations for the court to consider. Moreover, because the court determined, as have we, that there is no possible set of facts relating to the October 28 letter that Kropelnicki could plead that would state a claim, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Kropelnicki's request for leave to amend her complaint.