Jarzyna v. Home Props., L.P.

• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Writing for the Court: EDUARDO C. ROBRENO, District Judge.
• Citation: Jarzyna v. Home Props., L.P., 114 F.Supp.3d 243 (E.D. Pa. 2015)
• Decision Date: 17 July 2015
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 10–4191.
• Parties: Mariusz G. JARZYNA, Plaintiff, v. HOME PROPERTIES, L.P. et al., Defendants.

114 F.Supp.3d 243

Mariusz G. JARZYNA, Plaintiff,
v.
HOME PROPERTIES, L.P. et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 10–4191.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed July 17, 2015.

114 F.Supp.3d 247

Jacob T. Thielen, Joseph A. O'Keefe, O'Keefe, Miller & Thielen, P.C., Fleetwood, PA, for Plaintiff.

Candidus K. Dougherty, Swartz Campbell LLC, Philadelphia, PA, Ronald S. Canter, The Law Offices of Ronald S. Canter LLC, Rockville, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

EDUARDO C. ROBRENO, District Judge.

Table of Contents

I.	BACKGROUND	248
II.	PROCEDURAL HISTORY	251
III.	STANDARD OF REVIEW	252
IV.	DISCUSSION	252

A. COUNT I: FDCPA 252

1.	Claims Against Defendant Home	253
2.	Claims Against Defendant FCO	254

a. § 1692g(a): FCO's dunning letters do not adequately provide the required information 255

i.	The AV2 and HD1AC letters	256
ii.	The HD1A letter	256

b.	§ 1692g(b): FCO failed to verify the debt and improperly continued its collection attempts	262
c.	§§ 1692e(11) and 1692d(6): FCO failed to self-identify as a debt collector over the telephone	264
d.	§§ 1692f(1), 1692e(2), and 1692e(10): FCO attempted to collect a debt that Plaintiff did not owe	266

B. COUNT II: FCEUA 269

1. Claims Against Defendant Home 269

a.	No notice fee provision in the lease agreement	270
b.	Home sends accounting letters to prior addresses	272
c.	Home continually changed the amount due	272
d.	Plaintiff's alleged debt to Home is bogus and illegal	273

2. Claims Against Defendant FCO 274

C. COUNT III: UTPCPL 274

1.	Claims Against Defendant Home	275
2.	Claims Against Defendant FCO	275

D. COUNT IV: Landlord and Tenant Act 276

1.	Home Improperly Withheld the Security Deposit	276
2.	Home Did Not Send a Timely Accounting	277

E.	COUNT V: Civil Conspiracy	278
F.	Defendant Home's Counterclaim	279
G.	Defendant Home's Request for Sanctions	279

V.	CONCLUSION	279
VI.	APPENDIX A: Sample Form AV2 Letters from Defendant FCO	282
VII.	APPENDIX B: Sample Form HD1AC Letters from Defendant FCO	286

114 F.Supp.3d 248

This case, despite the relative simplicity of its claims, has proceeded along an unusually circuitous and contentious path: through fifteen months of discovery battles under the supervision of a Special Master, several iterations of the Complaint, and protracted but unsuccessful settlement negotiations. Now the parties have all filed dispositive motions and the Court, briefs in hand (totaling 320 pages at last count), is ready to bring the matter one step closer to a final disposition.

Plaintiff Mariusz Jarzyna ("Plaintiff") brings this action on behalf of himself and others similarly situated against...