VOROS, Associate Presiding Judge:
¶ 1 This appeal originated as six separate actions.
¶ 2 "The grant of a motion for judgment on the pleadings is reviewed under the same standard as the grant of a motion to dismiss, i.e., we affirm the grant of such a motion only if, as a matter of law, the plaintiff could not recover under the facts alleged." Miller v. Gastronomy, Inc., 2005 UT App 80, ¶ 6, 110 P.3d 144 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). When "reviewing a motion for judgment on the pleadings, this court accepts the factual allegations in the complaint as true; we then consider such allegations and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in a light most favorable to the plaintiff." Id. ¶ 1 n. 1 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
¶ 3 Plaintiffs are borrowers on payday loans gone awry.
¶ 4 Plaintiffs' complaint alleges three causes of action: civil conspiracy, violation of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act (the UCSPA), and violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In granting Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings, the trial court ruled that Plaintiffs should have availed themselves of the remedies that the Utah Rules of Small Claims Procedure provide; that Plaintiffs waived any causes of action based on the inflated garnishments for failure to seek relief under rule 64D in small claims court; and that Plaintiffs' complaint failed to adequately state claims for civil conspiracy, violation of the UCSPA, and violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Plaintiffs raise multiple claims of error on appeal.
¶ 5 The gravamen of Plaintiffs' case is that the Defendants violated the UCSPA, see Utah Code Ann. §§ 13-11-1 to -23 (2009). The UCSPA creates a cause of action against a "seller" who commits either a "deceptive" or an "unconscionable" "act or practice ... in connection with a consumer transaction ... whether it occurs before, during, or after the transaction." Id. §§ 13-11-4(1), -5(1). To that end, the UCSPA "shall be construed liberally" to, among other things, "protect consumers from suppliers who commit deceptive and unconscionable sales practices." Id. § 13-11-2(2).
¶ 6 Plaintiffs allege that Defendants engaged in deceptive and unconscionable conduct by obtaining garnishments for more money than they were legally owed. The trial court ruled that Plaintiffs waived any claim arising out of inflated garnishment amounts by bypassing remedies available to them in small claims court under rule 64D of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 64D(h) provides a process by which a judgment debtor can challenge a writ of garnishment. See Utah R. Civ. P. 64D(h). Rule 64D applies to the collection of small claims judgments. See Utah R. Small Claims P. 11(a) ("Judgments may be collected under the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure."). Plaintiffs argue that their failure to challenge the allegedly flawed garnishments in the underlying small claims action does not preclude them from bringing a new action based on those flaws.
¶ 7 "`With rare exception, when a court with proper jurisdiction enters a final judgment, ... that judgment can only be attacked on direct appeal.'" Moss v. Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless, 2010 UT App 170, ¶ 9, 237 P.3d 899 (omission in original) (quoting State v. Hamilton, 2003 UT 22, ¶ 25, 70 P.3d 111), cert. granted, 245 P.3d 757 (Utah 2010).
¶ 8 Thus, Plaintiffs here are precluded from collaterally attacking the validity of the small claims court writs because they "failed to use any of the available legal avenues for challenging [them] at the time they were issued or executed." See id. ¶ 10. However, Plaintiffs contend that their UCSPA claim does not constitute a collateral attack on those writs, because they "are not seeking to have the Writ[s] withdrawn" or "to have the garnishments released." Rather, they rely on Defendants' conduct in obtaining the writs as deceptive or unconscionable practices under the UCSPA and the common law of civil conspiracy.
¶ 9 We agree with Plaintiffs on this point. In pleading their UCSPA claim, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants' acts in obtaining writs in the small claims court were "deceptive" or "unconscionable." See Utah Code Ann. §§ 13-11-4(1), -5(1). Hence their UCSPA claim does not "depend[] upon a determination that the [writs] were illegal." See Moss, 2010 UT App 170, ¶ 9, 237 P.3d 899. The small claims court judgments are thus not "draw[n] in[to] question" by this claim. See id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Nor do Plaintiffs seek to have those judgments "vacated or revised or modified," or "to prevent [their] enforcement." See id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Therefore, Plaintiffs' UCSPA claim is not a collateral attack on the small claims judgments and is thus not waived by Plaintiffs' failure to challenge the writs in the small claims proceedings.
¶ 10 In dismissing Plaintiffs' claim under the UCSPA, the trial court also perfunctorily stated that the acts alleged by Plaintiffs are not deceptive or unconscionable acts or practices under the UCSPA. We do not read this as a ruling on the merits of Plaintiffs' UCSPA claims. The UCSPA establishes a policy of giving plaintiffs a reasonable opportunity to prove unconscionability: "If it is claimed or appears to the court that an act or practice may be unconscionable, the parties shall be given a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to its setting, purpose, and effect to aid the court in making its determination." Utah Code Ann. § 13-11-5(2). In light of this policy—and in light of the absence of any discussion of the requirements of the UCSPA and whether the alleged acts met those requirements—we read the trial court's statements as a conclusion that the Plaintiffs' allegations constituted a collateral attack on the writs rather than a ruling on the merits of an UCSPA claim at the pleadings stage.
¶ 11 We accordingly reverse the trial court's ruling that Plaintiffs' failure to challenge the writs in the small claims action bars their claim under the UCSPA and remand for further proceedings on this claim.
¶ 12 Next, Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in ruling that their complaint
¶ 13 To establish a claim of civil conspiracy, five elements must be shown: "`(1) a combination of two or more persons, (2) an object to be accomplished, (3) a meeting of the minds on the object or course of action, (4) one or more unlawful, overt acts, and (5) damages as a proximate result thereof.'" Peterson v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 2002 UT App 56, ¶ 12, 42 P.3d 1253 (quoting Alta Indus. v. Hurst, 846 P.2d 1282, 1290 n. 7 (Utah 1993)). "The claim of civil conspiracy `require[s], as one of [its] essential elements, an underlying tort.'" Puttuck v. Gendron, 2008 UT App 362, ¶ 21, 199 P.3d 971 (alteration in original) (quoting Coroles v. Sabey, 2003 UT App 339, ¶ 36, 79 P.3d 974). "Thus, in order to `sufficiently plead' a claim for civil conspiracy, a plaintiff is `obligated to adequately plead the existence of such a tort.'" Id. (quoting Coroles, 2003 UT App 339, ¶ 36, 79 P.3d 974). "Where plaintiffs have `not adequately pleaded any of the basic torts they allege ... dismissal of their civil conspiracy claim' is appropriate." Id. (omission in original) (quoting Coroles, 2003 UT App 339, ¶ 38, 79 P.3d 974); see also 16 Am.Jur.2d Conspiracy § 50 (2009) ("[I]f the acts alleged to constitute the underlying wrong provide no cause of action, then neither is there a cause of action for the conspiracy itself.").
¶ 14 To satisfy the fourth element, Plaintiffs rely on the following six underlying torts: (a) fraud on the court in obtaining writs of execution and/or garnishment, (b) fraud on Plaintiffs based on inflated amounts of the writs of execution and/or garnishment, (c) violation of the UCSPA, (d) violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, (e) violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and (f) defamation by reporting false credit information.
¶ 15 The first two underlying torts named above rely on the issuance of post-judgment writs in the small claims cases to satisfy the requirement of an unlawful act. Thus, unlike the UCSPA claim, this cause of action does "depend[ ] upon a determination that the ... orders were illegal," Moss v. Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless, 2010 UT App 170, ¶ 9, 237 P.3d 899 (omission in original), cert. granted, 245 P.3d 757 (Utah 2010). It is thus barred as a collateral attack on a final judgment. We therefore do not disturb the trial court's dismissal of Plaintiffs' conspiracy claim insofar as it is based on fraud.
¶ 16 The third underlying tort named above is violation of the UCSPA. As explained above, Plaintiffs' UCSPA claim is not barred as a collateral attack on a prior judgment, because it does not depend on the small claims court writs being unlawful—it is sufficient that they were deceptive or unconscionable. See supra ¶¶ 8-10. We therefore reverse the trial court's dismissal of Plaintiffs' civil conspiracy claim insofar as it is based on a violation of the UCSPA. To the extent Plaintiffs are able to maintain their UCSPA claim, that claim is eligible to serve as a predicate act for their civil conspiracy claim.
¶ 17 The trial court also ruled that Plaintiffs had conceded that they do not have a cause of action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act or for defamation. Our review of the record suggests that the trial court was correct on this point. Furthermore, Plaintiffs' brief on appeal does not challenge the ruling. In addition, Plaintiffs concede that they do not have an independent cause of action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
¶ 18 In sum, insofar as Plaintiffs' claim for civil conspiracy rests on an allegation that Defendants violated the UCSPA, we reverse the trial court's dismissal and remand for further proceedings. Insofar as the civil conspiracy claim rests on other grounds, we affirm the trial court's dismissal.
¶ 19 Finally, Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred by dismissing their complaint without granting leave to amend. "We review a district court's denial of leave to amend for an abuse of discretion." Hudgens v. Prosper, Inc., 2010 UT 68, ¶ 15, 243 P.3d 1275.
¶ 20 After a responsive pleading has been served, "a party may amend his pleading only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party; and leave shall be freely given when justice so requires." Utah R. Civ. P. 15(a). "To properly move for leave to amend a complaint, a litigant must file a motion that `shall be made in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought.'" Holmes Dev., LLC v. Cook, 2002 UT 38, ¶ 57, 48 P.3d 895 (quoting Utah R. Civ. P. 7(b)(1)). "Further, a motion for leave to amend must be accompanied by a memorandum of points and authorities in support, and by a proposed amended complaint." Id. (citing Utah R. Jud. Admin. 4-501(1)(A) (repealed 2003); Behrens v. Raleigh Hills Hosp., Inc., 675 P.2d 1179, 1182 (Utah 1983); Long v. Satz, 181 F.3d 1275, 1279 (11th Cir. 1999)); accord Puttuck v. Gendron, 2008 UT App 362, ¶ 23, 199 P.3d 971.
¶ 21 Plaintiffs here complied with none of these requirements. In addition, their argument on appeal is scant, consisting of two sentences. They cite two cases without analysis, one of which involves a litigant who, unlike Plaintiffs here, filed a written motion to amend accompanied by a proposed amended complaint and, apparently, a memorandum. See Hudgens, 2010 UT 68, ¶ 10, 243 P.3d 1275. We see no abuse of discretion by the trial court on this point.
¶ 22 The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
¶ 23 WE CONCUR: WILLIAM A. THORNE JR. and STEPHEN L. ROTH, Judges.