The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s decision that a plaintiff who alleged that the defendant had violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) failed to allege a concrete injury in fact sufficient to confer Article III standing. The plaintiff in Buchholz v. Meyer Njus Tanick, P.A., alleged the defendant law firm violated the FDCPA by sending him two letters regarding overdue payments he owed on two accounts, which caused him to suffer from anxiety. The court determined that the plaintiff’s argument lacked standing to sue because he could not prove that the letters caused him to suffer harm. However, in Bultemeyer v. CenturyLink, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s finding that the plaintiff lacked Article III standing to bring a lawsuit alleging that the defendant violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by obtaining her credit report without a permissible purpose and without the required authorization.
