Citibank, N.A. v. Richard Chappo (2013)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION RE MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (109.00)

The plaintiff has sued the defendant for recovery of alleged amounts owed for charges made on a Citibank credit card.   The amount claimed in the complaint is $31,438.21, and Citibank alleges the defendant breached the terms of his credit account (Count I) and that it is entitled to judgment on an account stated basis (Count II).   In his answer Mr. Chappo denies sufficient information to respond to the allegation that he had a credit account with Citibank, and further states that he “made timely payments for a majority of the time the account was opened.”   Dkt. Entry 103.00, ¶ 3.

Citibank has moved for summary judgment on both counts of its complaint.   In support thereof is an affidavit of Abbie Sanstra, a Citibank employee, which attaches a series of monthly statement sent to Chappo at the same address in Westport, Connecticut where he was served and covering billing periods August 2009 and June 2010 through August 2011.   The amount shown owing by Mr. Chappo increases on these statements from under $20,000 to the final amount of $31,438.21 on the last statement.   None of these statements reflect any purchases or payments by the defendant, and the increase in the amount owed apparently arises solely from the imposition of interest, late payment charges and other fees.   Citibank has also submitted Chappo's untimely and incomplete responses to requests to admit and interrogatories.

Defendant, by counsel, has filed a memorandum in opposition to summary judgment.   While the arguments therein are not particularly persuasive, the memorandum does point out that the records before the court do not demonstrate use of the credit card.   There is, however, the quoted judicial admission by the defendant that he paid many statements in a timely fashion, and the lack of any affidavit from Mr. Chappo.

Nevertheless, the court concludes that summary judgment should be denied.   The records submitted by the plaintiff simply fail to reflect how Mr. Chappo became indebted in the amount of $17,600.27 by August 2009, as reflected in the first monthly statement offered by the plaintiff.   In order to obtain summary judgment, it must be quite clear what the facts are, and Citibank has not yet met that burden in this case.

TAGGART D. ADAMS

JUDGE TRIAL REFEREE

Adams, Taggart D., J.T.R.