The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take a case reviewing the start date of the FDCPA’s one-year statute of limitations; currently the subject of a circuit court split.
8/16/2019 9:00
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing a case that could settle multiple circuit court debates over the statute of limitations and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The case, Kevin C. Rotkiske v. Paul Klemm, et al., dates back to 2008 and the U.S. Supreme Court in February granted without comment a request to review whether the “discovery rule” applies to toll the one-year statute of limitations under the FDCPA.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled en banc that the statute of limitations under the FDCPA begins to run from “the date on which the violation occurred.” The Third Circuit’s decision rejected the rulings of both the Fourth and the Ninth Circuits, which previously held that that statute of limitations under the FDCPA begins to run from the discovery of the violation, ACA International previously reported in the Daily Decision. (This content is available to ACA members only.)
ACA, through the Industry Advancement Fund, also recently supported the Third Circuit’s position by filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the respondents. In Kevin C. Rotkiske v. Paul Klemm, et al., the consumer sued claiming that a previously obtained default judgment against him was obtained in violation of the FDCPA.
Now, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also filed an amicus brief in support of the debt collector, Ballard Spahr LLP partner John L. Culhane Jr. reports.
Read more analysis of the case in the October issue of Collector magazine and follow Industry Advancement Fund news and daily case summaries online.