Townes v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC ( 2022 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
2022-NCSC-118
No. 66PA21
Filed 4 November 2022
PIA TOWNES
v.
PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, LLC
On discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31 of a unanimous decision
of the Court of Appeals, 275 N.C. App. 939, 854 S.E.2d 146 (2020), affirming in part
and reversing in part an order entered on 16 August 2019 by Judge Robert C. Ervin
in Superior Court, Mecklenburg County, granting in part plaintiff’s motion for
summary judgment; vacating in part a final judgment entered on 7 October 2019;
affirming an order entered on 7 October 2019 denying defendant’s motion to dismiss;
and remanding the case to the trial court. Heard in the Supreme Court on 30 August
2022.
North Carolina Justice Center, by Jason A. Pikler and Carlene McNulty; and
J. Jerome Hartzell for plaintiff-appellee.
Jon Berkelhammer, Joseph D. Hammond, Michelle A. Liguori, and D. Scott
Hazelgrove II for defendant-appellant.
Legal Aid of North Carolina, by Celia Pistolis and Kathryn A. Sabbeth; Center
for Responsible Lending, by Nadine Chabrier; Charlotte Center for Legal
Advocacy, Inc., by Karen Fisher Moskowitz; Financial Protection Law Center,
by Maria D. McIntyre; Pisgah Legal Services, by Marjorie Maynard; and
National Association of Consumer Advocates, by Adrian M. Lapas and Suzanne
Begnoche, for amici curiae.
TOWNES V. PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCS., LLC
2022-NCSC-118
Opinion of the Court
Richard P. Cook, PLLC, by Richard P. Cook, for North Carolina Consumer
Bankruptcy Rights Coalition, amicus curiae.
Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP, by Caren D. Enloe and
Landon G. Van Winkle, for North Carolina Creditors Bar Association, amicus
curiae.
Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Daniel P. Mosteller, Deputy General
Counsel, and M. Lynne Weaver, Special Deputy Attorney General, for the State
of North Carolina, amicus curiae.
PER CURIAM.
¶1 Justice ERVIN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. The
remaining members of the Court are equally divided, with three members voting to
affirm and three members voting to reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals.
Accordingly, the decision of the Court of Appeals is left undisturbed and stands
without precedential value. See Piro v. McKeever, 369 N.C. 291, 794 S.E.2d 501 (2016)
(per curiam) (affirming a Court of Appeals opinion without precedential value by an
equally divided vote).
AFFIRMED.