LLCs Are People Too

LLCs Are People Too

            In a recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, it was held that, for purposes of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), an LLC is a “person.”  Anarion Investments, LLC v. Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, __ F.3d __, Nos. 14-5731, 14-5993, 2015 WL 4503588 (6^th Cir. July 23, 2015).

            The FDCPA provides, at § 1692k, that “any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this subchapter with respect to any person is liable to such person[.]” In this case arising out of a residential foreclosure, the sole question was whatever the LLC with an interest in the property was a “person”.  The trial court held it was not; the Sixth Circuit reversed that determination.

            Parsing the FDCPA, while acknowledging that certain provisions are restricted in application to natural persons, the Court determined that an LLC is otherwise a “person” as contemplated by § 1692k of the FDCPA.