TIMOTHY D. DeGIUSTI, District Judge.
Before the Court is Defendant Encore Capital Group's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 145], filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. The Motion presents both a challenge to the exercise of personal jurisdiction over Encore Capital Group ("Encore"), and a challenge to the merits of Plaintiff's claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1681x, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p. Because a federal court must determine that jurisdiction exists as a threshold matter, the Court must first address the issue of personal jurisdiction. See Ruhrgas AG v. Marathon Oil Co., 526 U.S. 574, 584 (1999); Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95 (1999).
Plaintiff Dannielle Bruner has made no timely response to Encore's Motion. In the exercise of discretion under LCvR7.1(g), the Court deems the Motion confessed regarding the issue of jurisdiction. Further, for the reasons that follow, the Court finds that Plaintiff's action against Encore must be dismissed without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.
Plaintiff has the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over each defendant. See Benton v. Cameco Corp., 375 F.3d 1070, 1074 (10th Cir. 2004); Intercon, Inc. v. Bell Atl. Internet Sol., 205 F.3d 1244, 1247 (10th Cir. 2000); see also Rockwood Select Asset Fund XI(6)-1, LLC v. Devine, Millimet & Branch, 750 F.3d 1178, 1179 (10th Cir. 2014). "Where a district court considers a pre-trial motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction without conducting an evidentiary hearing, the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction to defeat the motion." AST Sports Sci., Inc. v. CLF Distrib. Ltd., 514 F.3d 1054, 1056-57 (10th Cir. 2008); accord Employers Mut. Cas. Co. v. Bartile Roofs, Inc., 618 F.3d 1153, 1159 (10th Cir. 2010); see Rockwood, 750 F.3d at 1180; Benton, 375 F.3d at 1074; Intercon, 205 F.3d at 1247. "The plaintiff may carry this burden `by demonstrating, via affidavit or other written materials, facts that if true would support jurisdiction over the defendant.'" Bartile Roofs, 618 F.3d at 1159 (quoting TH Agric. & Nutrition, LLC v. Ace European Grp. Ltd., 488 F.3d 1282, 1286 (10th Cir. 2007)). The Court must also accept "as true all well-pled (that is, plausible, non-conclusory, and non-speculative) facts alleged in plaintiff's complaint." Shrader v. Biddinger, 633 F.3d 1235, 1239 (10th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation omitted); see Rockwood, 750 F.3d at 1179; Intercon, 205 F.3d at 1247.
"[B]efore `a federal court can assert personal jurisdiction over a defendant in a federal question case, the court must determine (1) whether the applicable statute potentially confers jurisdiction by authorizing service of process on the defendant and (2) whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process.'" Klein v. Cornelius, 786 F.3d 1310, 1317 (10th Cir. 2015) (quoting Peay v. BellSouth Med. Assistance Plan, 205 F.3d 1206, 1209 (10th Cir. 2000)) (internal quotation omitted); see Trujillo v. Williams, 465 F.3d 1210, 1217 (10th Cir. 2006). Because neither the FCRA nor the FDCPA authorizes service of process, the federal rules authorize the application of Oklahoma law and its long-arm statute in this case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(1)(A);
Under Oklahoma law, the personal jurisdiction inquiry is simply a due process analysis. See Shrader, 633 F.3d at 1239; Intercon, 205 F.3d at 1247. The familiar due process standard requires "minimum contacts" between the defendant and the forum state and a finding that the exercise of jurisdiction comports with "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice." Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 476 (1985); World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 291, 297 (1980); Intercon, 205 F.3d at 1247. The "minimum-contacts standard may be satisfied by showing general or specific jurisdiction." See Bartile Roofs, 618 F.3d at 1159-60; see also Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472. The only basis of jurisdiction implicated by the factual allegations of Plaintiff's pleading is specific jurisdiction.
Specific jurisdiction "requires, first, that the out-of-state defendant must have `purposefully directed' its activities at residents of the forum state, and second, that the plaintiff's injuries must `arise out of' defendant's forum-related activities." Dudnikov v. Chalk & Vermillion Fine Arts, Inc., 514 F.3d 1063, 1071 (10th Cir. 2008) (quoting Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472). The Tenth Circuit has held that in non-contract actions "`purposeful direction' has three elements: (a) an intentional action that was (b) expressly aimed at the forum state with (c) knowledge that the brunt of the injury would be felt in the forum state."
In this case, Plaintiff does not allege in her Amended Complaint any conduct by Encore that creates a substantial connection to Oklahoma. The only facts stated regarding Encore are: it was incorporated under Delaware law; it has a principal place of business in California; it is the parent company of Midland Credit Funding, LLC and Midland Credit Management, Inc.; all three companies shared a common address and operated during the relevant time period as a common business enterprise; Encore controlled the acts and practices of its two subsidiaries and was responsible for their consumer information and debt collection policies; and it provided oversight of their consumer information and debt collection activities; and the three companies "conducted their business practices described in Plaintiff's Complaint through an interrelated network of companies that have common ownership, business functions, employees, officers, and office location." See Am. Compl. ¶ 49.
These allegations provide no factual basis to show Encore purposefully directed its activities at Oklahoma or that Plaintiff's injuries, if any, arise out of forum-related activities by Encore. The existence of contacts between Encore's subsidiaries and Oklahoma is insufficient by itself to establish personal jurisdiction over Encore in this state. See Calder, 465 U.S. at 793 (each defendant's contacts with the forum must be assessed separately); see also 4A Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice & Procedure, § 1069.4 at 258-59 & n.1 (3d ed. 2015). For purposes of personal jurisdiction, "a holding or parent company has a separate corporate existence and is treated separately from the subsidiary in the absence of circumstances justifying disregard of the corporate entity." Quarles v. Fuqua Indus., Inc., 504 F.2d 1358, 1362 (10th Cir. 1974); accord Benton, 375 F.3d at 1081. Plaintiff provides no well-pleaded facts that would permit a finding that Encore exercised sufficient control over its subsidiaries that they were acting as its agents and "doing the business of the parent" in Oklahoma with respect to their alleged conduct toward Plaintiff. See Quarles, 504 F.2d at 1364 (10th Cir. 1974); see also Home-Stake Prod. Co. v. Talon Petroleum, C.A., 907 F.2d 1012, 1021 (10th Cir. 1990) (corporate parent must "answer for conduct within the forum carried out by an alter ego subsidiary") (emphasis added). The Court therefore finds that Plaintiff has failed to allege a sufficient basis for the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over Encore in this case.
For these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to establish personal jurisdiction over Encore for her action against it in this forum, and Encore is entitled to the dismissal of the action against it.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant Encore Capital Group's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 145], limited to the issue of personal jurisdiction, is GRANTED. Plaintiff's action against Encore Capital Group is DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.
IT IS SO ORDERED.