On November 17, 2023, a Florida state court found no standing to sue when the plaintiff merely alleged a statutory injury for collection of a debt not owed and the fear of future harm if the court did not intervene.
In Ostiguy v. Radius Global Solutions, the plaintiff alleged violations of the FDCPA and the FCCPA (Fla.’s state debt collection law equivalent to the FDCPA), as well as state law negligence claims. In a novel decision applying state law standing rules to an FDCPA cause of action, the Court relied on recent Florida rulings applying a test for when a plaintiff may stay in state court. The judge used an analysis like the federal Article III Constitutional standing decisions where federal courts have refused to hear claims with no actual damages.
3 requirements the plaintiff must have to stay alive in state court: an actual injury, causation of damages, and redressability of the issues.
The court focused on the “injury” requirement and plaintiff’s lack of damages. Ruling Florida state law is like the U.S. Constitution, Article III, a plaintiff’s injury must be “concrete;” that is “real, and not abstract.”
Plaintiff alleged only “purely statutory violations of the FDCPA and FCCPA . . .” and did not include any resulting injury or material risk of harm. For the plaintiff’s allegations of negligence, the plaintiff failed to allege any actual loss or damage.
In short, no injury, no case, no permitted state court filing!
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