In Minton v. Cach, LLC, plaintiff alleged that defendant violated the FDCPA by attempting to collect a five year old state court judgment which allegedly included unlawful prejudgment interest and attorney's fees. Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded plaintiff's claim. The court agreed, finding that the issue of whether the interest and fees were recoverable was determined in the state court action, and that plaintiff was essentially asking the federal court to review and reverse the finding of the state court, when such a review is barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctirne.
In Torsiello v. McGovern Legal Services, plaintiff alleged that defendant violated the FDCPA by misrepresenting the nature and amount of legal fees allegedly owed in a series of collection letters. Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing that the parties settlement of the underlying debt served to release the claims. The court denied the motion, finding that the letters that contained increasing charges for fees plausibly raised the possibility that the amount of the debt was misstated, and that the settlement agreement between plaintiff and the original creditor did not release the claims against the defendant debt collector.
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