On January 26, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a mortgage company’s motion to dismiss claims brought by two individual plaintiffs. The plaintiffs alleged violations of the FDCPA by claiming the company acted as a debt collector without legal interest or servicing rights and used false and misleading representations to collect payments. They further asserted violations of the FCRA, alleging inaccurate credit reporting and without legal standing to do so, and claimed the company failed to timely acknowledge and fully respond to qualified written requests under RESPA.
The court found that the plaintiffs’ communications did not seek information related to the servicing of either loan, and thus the servicer was not required by RESPA to respond. The plaintiffs also failed to identify any credit information furnished that was incorrect or materially misleading, undermining their FCRA claim. Regarding the FDCPA, the court determined the plaintiffs had not sufficiently alleged that the company was a debt collector who violated the statute. As a result, all claims were dismissed without prejudice, and the plaintiffs were granted leave to file an amended complaint by February 17. As such, the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration and motion for a preliminary injunction were denied as moot.
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