Court Opinion

ID: 9468729
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:22:19.327654+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:01.673252
License: Public Domain

STERN, District Judge,
concurring:
Plaintiffs in this action seek to hold defendant Green, the sole defendant in this case, personally liable for money damages 1 for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The alleged violations include sending a written notice which “simulated” and “falsely” represented itself to be a document authorized, issued, and approved by the Municipal Court of Philadelphia and which created a “false impression” as to its source, authorization and approval, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(9); using an organizational name other than defendant’s business, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(14); and making “false representations” and using “deceptive” means to attempt to collect the debts for unpaid rent, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10), by creating the “false belief” that the Philadelphia Municipal Court was participating in the collection of plaintiffs’ alleged debt. See Plaintiffs’ Complaint, App. at l-7a-8a.
I concur in Judge Hunter’s opinion and fully agree with the result reached in this case. There is no question that defendant Green was authorized by President Judge Glancey to send the forms in question to tenants delinquent in rent payments as part of a scheme approved by the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Judge Glaneey’s authorization on behalf of the court conferred an “official” status on defendant’s actions and there can be no doubt that defendant believed at all times that he was acting “officially.”
Under those circumstances, to hold that defendant’s activities were not exempt from coverage under the Act would produce an absurdly harsh result. Without the protection of the exemption to which he is entitled, defendant Green would be placed in the anomalous position of being exposed to personal monetary liability for deceptively giving the impression that he was acting as an officer of the court despite the fact that his actions and the notices themselves had indeed been authorized by that court.
Whether Judge Glancey was within or without his authority in making the designation is a different matter. That question *397is an issue of state law which is not within the province of this court to review in what amounts to a collateral attack. If, as plaintiffs claim, Judge Glancey was acting beyond his judicial power, their remedy lies in the appellate courts of Pennsylvania, not here.

. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a), plaintiffs may recover any actual damage sustained by them as a result of defendant’s failure to comply with the Act and additional damages as the court may allow up to $1,000.