Opinion ID: 787014
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Authority to join the Additional Parties as judgment debtors

Text: 13 Appellants alternatively assert that, even if this case involves a debt for purposes of the FDCPA, the district court lacked authority to join the additional entities as defendants and judgment debtors absent a motion by the United States or the debtor. Appellants concede that the addition of parties as judgment debtors is permitted under section 3012 of the FDCPA upon motion of the the United States or the debtor. 28 U.S.C. § 3012. 6 Appellants overlook the import and language of section 3013 of the FDCPA. 14 Although section 3012 speaks only to the ability of the United States or the debtor to join additional defendants, section 3013 of the FDCPA provides: The court may at any time on its own initiative or the motion of any interested person, and after such notice as it may require, make an order denying, limiting, conditioning, regulating, extending, or modifying the use of any enforcement procedure under this chapter. 28 U.S.C. § 3013. Because section 3013 grants the district court broad discretion to, among other things, modify the use of any enforcement procedure under the FDCPA, we review for abuse of discretion. Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 558, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988) (indicating that matters of discretion are reviewable for abuse of discretion). A district court abuses its discretion if it bases its decision on an error of law or a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence. United States v. Mann, 161 F.3d 840, 860 (5th Cir.1998). Because section 3013 authorizes the district court to extend or amend the use of any enforcement procedure under the statute, the district court's modification, taken upon its own initiative and with notice to the interested parties, did not exceed the discretion contemplated by the statute. We find no abuse of discretion in the exercise of the district court's authority to join additional defendants. 15