Tourgeman v. Nelson & Kennard

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides for class statutory damages not to exceed the lesser of $500,000 or 1 per centum of the net worth of the debt collector. The statute is silent as to which party bears the burden of introducing evidence at trial to establish the debt collector's net worth.The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a consumer class action under the FDCPA and held that plaintiff carried the burden of producing evidence at trial of the debt collector's net worth to establish entitlement to class statutory damages under the FDCPA. In this case, plaintiff had every opportunity to acquire evidence of defendant's net worth but failed to produce any competent evidence of this amount at trial. View "Tourgeman v. Nelson & Kennard" on Justia Law