In
O’Toole v. Bob Roache Law, a Seventh Circuit District Court in Indiana granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case for lack of standing. In its holding, the court emphasized that allegations of “annoyance or confusion” without allegations of detrimental action taken as a result of the alleged annoyance or confusion, is insufficient to establish an injury in fact necessary to confer standing to an FDCPA plaintiff.
In that case, the plaintiffs incurred a debt with Smokey Ridge Homeowners Association, Inc., and the defendant sent the plaintiffs a collection letter to collect on the debt. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant’s letter provided “confusing and conflicting information” regarding their rights under the FDCPA and, consequently, that “‘[the] [Plaintiffs’] rights under [the FDCPA] [had] been violated and the Plaintiffs ha[d] been damage[d] thereby.’”