OPINION OF THE COURT
PER CURIAM.
Hector Huertas appeals pro se from the District Court's dismissal of his claims against Asset Management Professionals ("AMP") and Applied Card Bank f/k/a Cross Country Bank ("ACB").
I.
In addition to AMP and ACB, Huertas brought this lawsuit against four other defendants—Galaxy Asset Management f/k/a Galaxy Asset purchasing ("Galaxy"); Capital Management Services, L.P.; Experian Information Solutions; and TransUnion,
AMP and ACB moved to dismiss the claims against them, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), for failure to state a claim. Huertas responded with a "Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and for Sanctions In Response to Defendant's Applied Bank and Asset Management Professionals Motions to Dismiss." The District Court granted AMP's and ACB's motions and denied Huertas's motion. The District Court reasoned that expiration of the statute of limitations makes a debt unenforceable, but does not extinguish the debt itself, such that neither ACB's assignment of Huertas's debt nor AMP's attempt to collect on the debt violated the law or breached any duty.
Despite having rejected Huertas's claims to the extent that they were based on a time-barred debt, the District Court recognized that Huertas's filings indicated that he had previously filed for bankruptcy. Since it was unclear to the District Court whether Huertas was alleging that the defendants had attempted to collect a debt extinguished by bankruptcy proceedings, the District Court allowed Huertas to amend his complaint to assert such a theory.
Huertas did not file an amended complaint within the time period prescribed by the District Court. Instead, he dismissed his claims against the remaining defendants, and timely appealed to this Court. On appeal, Huertas explained that he did not amend his complaint because his debt had not, in fact, been discharged in bankruptcy.
II.
The District Court's jurisdiction arose under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 & 1367. Our jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
III.
A. Validity of the Debt
Huertas's primary contention on appeal is that the District Court erred in concluding that the expiration of the statute of limitations did not extinguish his debt. We agree with the District Court, however, that, under New Jersey law, Huertas's debt obligation is not extinguished by the expiration of the statute of limitations, even though the debt is ultimately unenforceable in a court of law.
B. FDCPA claim
Huertas's FDCPA claim against AMP turns on whether a debt collector may attempt to collect upon a time-barred debt without violating the statute. The FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from "us[ing] any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt," 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, including falsely representing "the character, amount, or legal status of any debt," id. § 1692e(2)(A). The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from using unfair or unconscionable means of collecting a debt. Id. § 1692f.
Although our Court has not yet addressed the issue, the majority of courts have held that when the expiration of the statute of limitations does not invalidate a debt, but merely renders it unenforceable, the FDCPA permits a debt collector to
Whether a debt collector's communications threaten litigation in a manner that violates the FDCPA depends on the language of the letter, which "should be analyzed from the perspective of the `least sophisticated debtor.'"
Even the least sophisticated consumer would not understand AMP's letter to explicitly or implicitly threaten litigation. Furthermore, the FDCPA requires debt collectors to inform a debtor "that the debt collector is attempting to collect a debt." 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(11). Since it is appropriate for a debt collector to request voluntary repayment of a time-barred debt, see Freyermuth, 248 F.3d at 771, it would be unfair if debt collectors were found to violate the FDCPA both if they include the mandated language (because inclusion would threaten suit) and if they do not (because failure to include a mandatory notice violates the statute). Accordingly, Huertas has not stated a claim under the FDCPA based upon AMP's letter, and we will affirm the District Court's dismissal of
C. FCRA claim
Huertas's FCRA claim asserts that AMP obtained his credit report from TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, "without any FCRA-sanctioned purpose." (App. 12.) The FCRA imposes civil liability upon a person who willfully obtains a consumer report for a purpose that is not authorized by the FCRA. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681b(f), 1681n(a). However, the statute expressly permits distribution of a consumer report to an entity that "intends to use the information in connection with a credit transaction involving the consumer on whom the information is to be furnished and involving the extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account of, the consumer."
In his brief, Huertas points out that the FCRA prohibits a consumer reporting agency from making a consumer report containing "[a]ccounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years," measured from 180 days after the account is placed in collection or charged off by the creditor. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1). Even if we were to consider this argument, which was not raised before the District Court, it is TransUnion, the consumer reporting agency, and not AMP, that created the consumer report of which Huertas complains. Accordingly, even assuming that this provision of the FCRA was violated, Huertas cannot state a claim against AMP on that basis. See D'Angelo v. Wilmington Med. Ctr., Inc., 515 F.Supp. 1250, 1253 (D.Del. 1981) (collection agency that provided information to consumer reporting agency regarding a debt was not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA). Furthermore, Huertas cannot base his claim on 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A), because no private right of action exists under that provision. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c), (d); Nelson v. Chase Manhattan Mortg. Corp., 282 F.3d 1057, 1059 (9th Cir.2002). Accordingly, we will affirm the District
D. Remaining claims
We will also affirm the dismissal of Huertas's RICO and state law claims against AMP and ACB. Huertas has failed to state a claim under the NJCFA because his complaint is not based on AMP or ACB's marketing or sale of merchandise or services to him. See Del. Tufo v. Nat'l Republican Senatorial Comm., 248 N.J.Super. 684, 591 A.2d 1040, 1042 (Ch.Div.1991) ("[T]he reach of the [NJCFA] is intended to encompass only consumer oriented commercial transactions involving the marketing and sale of merchandise or services."); see also J & R Ice Cream Corp. v. Cal. Smoothie Licensing Corp., 31 F.3d 1259, 1272-73 (3d Cir. 1994). Instead, he seeks to recover for ACB's transfer of his debt to third parties and AMP's attempts to collect the account—actions that do not fall within the NJCFA. Cf. Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. v. Mills, 567 F.Supp.2d 719, 723-24 (D.N.J. 2008) (holding that letter from attorney fraudulently accusing plaintiff of violating defendant's exclusive licensing rights was not actionable under the NJCFA because letter did not involve a sale of merchandise). Huertas's CFA claims also fail because the fact that defendants sought payment on a valid, even if unenforceable, debt does not equate to fraud absent allegations indicating that they made false or misleading representations. See N.J. Stat. Ann. § 56:8-2.
Finally, we fail to see how AMP's attempts to collect on a time-barred debt or ACB's transfer of that debt to a third party violates RICO or breaches the duty of good faith and fair dealing. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) (prohibiting "any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, [from] conduct[ing] or participat[ing], directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt"), 1961(1) (defining "racketeering activity" as certain criminal activity), 1961(6) (defining "unlawful debt" as a debt incurred in connection with gambling activity or which is usurious); see also Brunswick Hills Racquet Club, Inc. v. Route 18 Shopping Ctr. Assocs., 182 N.J. 210, 864 A.2d 387, 396 (2005) ("The party claiming a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing must provide evidence sufficient to support a conclusion that the party alleged to have acted in bad faith has engaged in some conduct that denied the benefit of the bargain originally intended by the parties.") (quotations omitted). Although Huertas may have had a credit card contract with ACB, he has not alleged facts that would support a conclusion that he was deprived of the benefit of his bargain under that contract. See Seidenberg v. Summit Bank, 348 N.J.Super. 243, 791 A.2d 1068, 1077 (App.Div.2002) ("The guiding principle in the application of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing emanates from the fundamental notion that a party to a contract may not unreasonably frustrate its purpose.")
Accordingly, we will affirm the dismissal of the remaining claims against ACB and AMP.
IV.
In sum, we will affirm the District Court's dismissal of Huertas's claims against AMP and ACB and its denial of Huertas's motion for judgment on the pleadings.
Huertas also filed a motion for leave to file the second volume of the joint appendix under seal. Although it would
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