Gregg v. SN Servicing Corp.
What’s at Stake
In TransUnion v. Ramirez, the U.S. Supreme Court made explicit that alleging a violation of a statute is not enough to have standing to bring a lawsuit in federal court under Article III of the U.S. Constitution—instead, a plaintiff must show a concrete injury above and beyond the statutory violation. As a result, it is harder than ever to enforce statutes—particularly consumer-protection statutes—in federal court. Unfortunately, that reasoning is starting to spread to state courts as well, even though state-court jurisdiction is not restricted by the U.S. Constitution. In this case, we are asking the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York, to hold that statutory injury is enough to bring a case in New York state court and make clear that TransUnion has no place in state court.
Summary
SN Servicing sent our client, Sylvester Gregg, a debt-collection letter demanding payment on his mortgage. However, not only had Mr. Gregg’s mortgage debt been long discharged in bankruptcy, the statute of limitations for collecting on the debt had run years before. Mr. Gregg alleges that SN Servicing’s letter violates a New York requirement that debt collectors determine whether a debt is outside the statute of limitations and then notify a consumer if it is and alleges that its bankruptcy notice is likewise misleading. He brings claims under New York consumer-protection law and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Mr. Gregg first sued in federal district court. While his case was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court decided TransUnion, and the district court dismissed his case for lack of Article III standing. Mr. Gregg re-filed in New York state court, but, citing TransUnion, the trial court dismissed his case for lack of standing, and the appellate court affirmed.
Core Legal Problem
On behalf of Mr. Gregg, we are seeking review in New York’s highest court. We are asking the New York Court of Appeals to make clear that TransUnion has no bearing on whether a plaintiff can bring a statutory claim in New York state court and reaffirm its prior decisions indicating that bringing a claim for a violation of a statute is sufficient to get into court.