Arleigh P. Helfer III published "Third Circuit Sets Precedent on FDCPA Statute
of Limitations" as the lead article in On
Appeal, the Third Circuit Bar Association's
newsletter.
"When does a federal statute of limitations begin to run?
From the violation or the time when the injured party discovers the
violation? In Rotkiske v. Klemm, 890 F.3d 422 (3d Cir.
2018), the Third Circuit sitting en banc issued a unanimous opinion
that clarified the court's approach to federal statutes of
limitations. Diverging from the approach taken by the Fourth and
Ninth Circuits, the court held that the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act's (FDCPA) one-year statute of limitations is an
"occurrence based" provision that does not incorporate a
discovery rule but rather runs from the date of the violation.
However, the court left open the possibility that the FDCPA's
statute of limitations is subject to equitable tolling in
appropriate cases. In addition to this precedential holding,
Rotkisk
