SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG, District Judge.
Plaintiff James Forkum ("Plaintiff") brings the instant action against Defendant Co-Operative Adjustment Bureau, Inc. ("Defendant") alleging claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., and California's Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("RFDCPA"), Cal. Civ. Code § 1788 et seq.
In the instant motion, Plaintiff does not seek actual damages. Instead, Plaintiff seeks an award of $24,261.90, consisting of: (1) statutory damages under the FDCPA in the amount of $1,000; (2) statutory damages under the RFDCPA in the amount of $1,000; (3) attorney's fees in the amount of $21,097.30; and (4) costs in the amount of $1,164.60. In response, Defendant does not dispute that Plaintiff is entitled to an award of statutory damages under the FDCPA. However, Defendant contends that Plaintiff is not entitled to an award of statutory damages under the RFDCPA because there has been no showing that Defendant willfully and knowingly violated the statute. In addition, while Defendant does not dispute that Plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorney's fees and costs under the FDCPA and RFDCPA, Defendant challenges the reasonableness of Plaintiff's attorney's fees request.
If a debt collector fails to comply with any provision of the FDCPA, a plaintiff may recover statutory damages not to exceed $1,000. 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(2)(A). In determining the amount of liability, the court must consider, among other relevant factors, "the frequency and persistence of noncompliance by the debt collector, the nature of such noncompliance, and the extent to which such noncompliance was intentional." 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(b)(1).
In granting summary judgment for the Plaintiff, the Court found that Defendant violated the FDCPA and RFDCPA when its employee failed to identify himself as a debt collector in a voicemail message left for Plaintiff concerning the collection of a consumer debt. Given the nature and extent of Defendant's noncompliance with the FDCPA and the lack of evidence suggesting that Defendant's noncompliance was intentional, the Court finds that an award of $250 dollars in statutory damages is appropriate.
If a debt collector willfully and knowingly violates any provision of the RFDCPA, a plaintiff may recover no less than $100 but no more than $1,000. Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30(b). Such damages may be awarded cumulatively to those awarded under the FDCPA.
The Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that he is entitled to statutory damages under the RFDCPA. Unlike the FDCPA, a plaintiff seeking to recover statutory damages
Under both the FDCPA and the RFDCPA, a prevailing plaintiff is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs. 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3); Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30(c). "The FDCPA's statutory language makes an award of fees mandatory. The reason for mandatory fees is that Congress chose a private attorney general approach to assume enforcement of the FDCPA."
Plaintiff requests an award of attorney's fees in the amount of $21,097.30, comprised of 61 hours of attorney time at hourly rates ranging from $290 per hour to $387 per hour, and 5.2 hours of paralegal time at an hourly rate of $145 per hour. Pl.'s Mot. at 4. Defendant does not oppose Plaintiff's entitlement to attorney's fees and costs. Instead, Defendant opposes the amount of the fees requested on the ground that the hours expended by Plaintiff's counsel were unreasonable. Def.'s Opp. at 3. Specifically, Defendant argues, without further elaboration, that "plaintiff undertook inordinate efforts which appear to defendant to have been primarily intended solely to run up an extremely high attorney fee award. Plaintiff propounded Requests for Admissions (18); Requests for Production of Documents (16); Interrogatories (18); Requests to Admit Genuineness of Documents (13); and one deposition."
In determining a reasonable number of hours, the court must review detailed time records to determine whether the hours claimed by the applicant are adequately documented and whether any of the hours were unnecessary, duplicative or excessive.
In support of his request for attorney's fees, Plaintiff provided itemized records detailing the services rendered by his attorneys, broken down by task, and the hourly rate billed by the attorney performing a particular task. Dkt. 38-1. Defendant contends that Plaintiff's claimed hours regarding discovery related tasks are "excessive or otherwise unnecessary." As the party challenging the hours claimed by Plaintiff, Defendant has the burden of rebuttal, which requires submission of evidence challenging the accuracy and reasonableness of the facts asserted by the Plaintiff in its submitted affidavits.
Having reviewed the billing records submitted by Plaintiff and considered Defendants argument, the Court finds that Defendant has failed to demonstrate that the hours billed by Plaintiff's counsel regarding discovery related tasks are unreasonable. A review of the billing records reveals that Plaintiff's counsel spent approximately 10 hours on such tasks, including the taking of Defendant's deposition.
The determination of the applicable, reasonable hourly rate "is not made by reference to rates actually charged the prevailing party."
In support of the hourly rates charged, Plaintiff submitted the Declaration of Ryan Lee, the Declaration of Matthew Rosenthal, the Laffey Matrix, and the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report (2010-2011).
The evidence submitted by Plaintiff in support of the instant motion is largely unhelpful in determining the reasonable hourly rates for the attorneys that worked on this case. The Laffey Matrix and the Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey are not reliable measures of rates in the Northern District of California because they provide no data on the prevailing hourly rates charged in this District.
The Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to satisfy his burden to show that the rates billed by the attorneys that worked on this case are consistent with the rates for attorneys of comparable skill, experience, and reputation litigating similar cases in the Northern District of California. The declarations submitted by Plaintiff are inadequate because they fail to set forth the relevant skill, experience, and reputation of the attorneys that worked on this case. Further, Plaintiff has not submitted a declaration from an expert or a consumer law attorney attesting that the hourly rates charged his counsel are in line with the rates charged by other consumer attorneys practicing in the Northern District of California with comparable skill, experience, and reputation. Nor did Plaintiff cite any cases from this District approving the rates charged by the attorneys that worked on this case. Accordingly, Plaintiff has failed to show that the rates charged by his counsel — $387 (Ryan Lee), $290 (Rory Leisinger), and $290 (Matthew Rosenthal) — are reasonable.
Given Plaintiff's failure to produce evidence demonstrating that the hourly rates charged by his counsel are reasonable, Plaintiff's request for attorney's fees in the amount of $21,097.30 is DENIED. However, the Court will afford Plaintiff the opportunity to submit a supplemental brief, not to exceed five (5) pages, addressing this issue.
Plaintiff seeks $1,164.60 in costs and has submitted a statement of itemized costs in support of his request. Pl.'s Mot. at 4. Plaintiff seeks reimbursement for filing fees, travel costs, service fees, and court reporter fees. Dkt. 38-1. Defendant has not challenged any item of costs. Having reviewed Plaintiff's statement of costs, the Court finds that the costs Plaintiff seeks to recover were reasonably incurred and recoverable.
For the reasons stated above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. Plaintiff's motion for an award of statutory damages, attorney's fees, and costs is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Plaintiff's motion is granted to the extent it seeks an award of statutory damages under the FDCPA. Plaintiff is awarded $250 in statutory damages. Plaintiff's motion is granted to the extent it seeks costs in the amount of $1,164.60. Plaintiff's motion is denied to the extent it seeks statutory damages under the RFDCPA and an award of attorney's fees. Plaintiff may submit a supplemental brief, not to exceed five (5) pages, addressing the deficiencies identified above by no later than seven (7) days from the date this Order is filed.
2. This Order terminates Docket 38.