Supplemental Jurisdiction: Sparrow

[David A. Szwak]

Sparrow v. Mazda American Credit
385 F.Supp.2d 1063
E.D.Cal.,2005.
Aug 26, 2005

The applicable subsection here is § 1367(c)(4). Even if supplemental jurisdiction exists over Defendant's counterclaims, a court may decline to exercise that jurisdiction where compelling reasons exist. *1071 In a case such as this one, strong policy reasons favor declining to exercise jurisdiction. As the court states in Leatherwood, allowing a debt collector to bring an action for the underlying debt in a case brought under the FDCPA may deter litigants from pursuing their rights under that statute:
To allow a debt collector defendant to seek to collect the debt in the federal action to enforce the FDCPA might well have a chilling effect on persons who otherwise might and should bring suits such as this. Moreover, it would involve this Court in questions of no federal significance. Given the remedial nature of the FDCPA "and the broad public policy which it serves, federal courts should be loath to become immersed in the debt collection suits of ... the target of the very legislation under which" a FDCPA plaintiff states a cause of action. 115 F.R.D. at 50 (quoting Roberts v. Nat'l Sch. of Radio & Television Broadcasting, 374 F.Supp. 1266, 1271 (N.D.Ga.1974)). A major purpose of the FDCPA is to protect individuals from unfair debt collection practices regardless of whether the individual actually owes a debt. Baker, 677 F.2d at 777 ("The [FDCPA] is designed to protect consumers who have been victimized by unscrupulous debt collectors, regardless of whether a valid debt actually exists."); McCartney, 970 F.2d at 47 ("The Act makes debt collectors liable for various 'abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices' regardless of whether the debt is valid."); Keele, 149 F.3d at 594 ("[T]he plaintiff who admittedly owes a legitimate debt has standing to sue if the [FDCPA] is violated by an unprincipled debt collector.").