Perez v. McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C.

Perez v. McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C.

Opinion

 [*820]  Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge:

McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen ("MVBA") is a law firm that specializes in collecting debts owed to Texas local governments. In 2019, it sent a letter to Mariela Perez demanding that she pay several hundred dollars in delinquent utility debt that she owed to the City of College Station. But limitations on that debt had run, and the letter did not disclose that fact. So Perez sued MVBA under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1692e. She also sought to certify a class of Texans with timebarred debt who had received the same form letter. The district court granted that request, and MVBA appealed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f).

On appeal, MVBA does not contest Perez's standing. ] But we have an "independent obligation to assure that standing exists, regardless of whether it is challenged by any of the parties." [**2]  Summers v. Earth Island Inst., 555 U.S. 488, 499, 129 S. Ct. 1142, 173 L. Ed. 2d 1 (2009). Perez has standing only if the letter inflicted an injury with a "close relationship to a harm traditionally recognized as providing a basis for a lawsuit in American courts." TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190, 2200, 210 L. Ed. 2d 568 (2021) (quotation omitted). Because Perez hasn't shown that she has suffered such an injury, we vacate the class-certification order and remand with instruction to dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

When Perez was living in College Station, she incurred $486.57 in utility bills that she did not pay. Later, the city hired MVBA to collect the debt. The firm tried to do so by sending Perez a form letter demanding payment. Notably, her debt had become delinquent four years and one day before MVBA sent its letter. Under Texas law, that meant it was unenforceable. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004(a). But the letter failed to mention that fact.

MVBA soon paid a price for its omission. Perez had previously filed FDCPA suits against three other defendants. And when she received the form letter, she sued MVBA, too.

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