Article III Standing In FDCPA Class Actions: The Seventh Circuit Issues A Series Of Decisions

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a series of decisions addressing the Article III standing of consumer plaintiffs alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). The court—in five opinions resolving six different appeals arising out of putative class actions—revisited the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), clarifying how an FDCPA plaintiff must allege and prove an "injury in fact" sufficient to establish subject-matter jurisdiction in a federal court.

Two of the five opinions resulted in converting Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals of complaints for failure to state a claim to Rule 12(b)(1) dismissals for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction: Larkin v. Finance Sys. of Green Bay, Inc., Nos. 18-3582 & 19-1557 (7th Cir. Dec. 14, 2020); and Gunn v. Thrasher, Buschman & Voelkel, P.C., No. 19-3514 (7th Cir. Dec. 15, 2020). A third opinion vacated