Garcia v. Ability Recovery Services, LLC, 2:18-cv-02459

Plaintiff Leo Garcia sued Ability Recovery Services, LLC under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Defendant was properly served but defaulted: did not answer, appear, or oppose the default-judgment motion.
Court treated well-pleaded factual allegations as true and found those allegations sufficient to establish FDCPA liability.
Garcia sought $1,000 in statutory damages (the FDCPA maximum) and $8,505 in attorneys’ fees plus $475 in costs.
The Court found the misconduct not sufficiently egregious for the maximum statutory award and instead awarded $500 in statutory damages.
The Court reduced requested attorney rates, awarded $6,655 in attorneys’ fees (18.5 hours at $350/hr; 1.8 hours at $100/hr), plus $475 in costs, entering a total judgment of $7,630.00.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Liability under the FDCPA	Garcia alleged defendant violated FDCPA; sought default judgment.	No opposition — defendant defaulted.	Default accepted; allegations establish FDCPA liability.
Statutory damages amount	Sought $1,000 statutory damages (maximum).	No opposition.	Conduct not sufficiently egregious for max; awarded $500.
Attorneys' fees: rates and hours	Requested $8,505 (20.3 hrs at $450/hr; 1.8 hrs administrative billed at $100/hr).	No opposition.	Reduced partner/attorney rate to $350/hr for 18.5 non-admin hrs; kept $100/hr for 1.8 admin hrs; fee award $6,655.
Costs / out-of-pocket expenses	Requested $475 in costs.	No opposition.	$475 deemed reasonable and awarded.

Finkel v. Romanowicz, 577 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2009) (defaulted allegations are accepted as true but court must determine legal sufficiency).
Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 2 v. Moulton Masonry & Const., LLC, 779 F.3d 182 (2d Cir. 2015) (default is not an admission of damages; court must ascertain damages with reasonable certainty).
Cement & Concrete Workers Dist. Council Welfare Fund v. Metro Found. Contractors, Inc., 699 F.3d 230 (2d Cir. 2012) (same principle regarding damages after default).
Credit Lyonnais Sec., Inc. v. Alcantara, 183 F.3d 151 (2d Cir. 1999) (court must determine damages with reasonable certainty after default).
Transatlantic Marine Claims Agency, Inc. v. Ace Shipping Corp., 109 F.3d 105 (2d Cir. 1997) (procedures for determining damages following default).
LeBlanc-Sternberg v. Fletcher, 143 F.3d 748 (2d Cir. 1998) (attorney fee awards may include reasonable out-of-pocket expenses charged to clients).
Dagostino v. Computer Credit, Inc., 238 F. Supp. 3d 404 (E.D.N.Y. 2017) (survey of prevailing hourly rates in E.D.N.Y.).