Opinion ID: 3184502
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Goldenstein’s PFCEUA and UCC Claim

Text: The District Court granted summary judgment against Goldenstein on his PFCEUA and UCC claims without addressing the substance of the PFCEUA claim, without even mentioning the UCC claim, and despite the fact that Appellees did not argue those claims in their motion for summary judgment.6 This too, we conclude, was error. As to the PFCEUA, the District Court granted summary judgment on the ground that there was no FDCPA violation based on the Appellees’ present right to possession. In so doing, the District Court appears to have misapprehended the substance of Goldenstein’s PFCEUA claim. Consistent with his argument on appeal, Goldenstein urged before the District Court that the PFCEUA’s broad definition of “debt collector” encompasses repossession companies, see 73 Pa. Stat. and Cons. Stat. Ann. § 2270.3; that the PFCEUA states that “[i]t shall constitute an unfair or 6 A district court, of course, may grant summary judgment sua sponte on claims not raised by the moving party where, as here, the non-moving party is on notice and given an opportunity to respond. See Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 326; Gibson v. Mayor & Council of City of Wilmington, 355 F.3d 215, 224 (3d Cir. 2004). Where it does so without acknowledging or addressing the claims in question, however, the court creates uncertainty as to whether it considered the claims on the merits and hinders our ability to conduct meaningful appellate review. 14 deceptive debt collection act or practice under this act if a debt collector violates any of the provisions of the [FDCPA],” 73 Pa. Stat. and Cons. Stat. Ann. § 2270.4; and that the FDCPA, in turn, prohibits debt collectors from using any “false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt,” 15 U.S.C. § 1692e. See Mem. Law Opp’n Mot. Summ. J. 15, ECF No. 40-1. Thus, according to Goldenstein, Premier’s use of “false, deceptive, or misleading representation[s]” to coerce Goldenstein to sign the releases to recover his car violated the PFCEUA through the § 1692e provision of the FDCPA. As the District Court did not engage this argument or the alleged UCC violation, these claims should also be addressed by the District Court on remand.