Keith MAYDAK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BONDED CREDIT COMPANY INCORPORATED, Defendant-Appellee

This appeal by Keith Maydak pro se requires us to decide if a district court has subject matter jurisdiction over an action brought by a private person under the Federal Communications Act of 1934 (“the Act”), 47 U.S.C. § 151 et. seq., where no party to the lawsuit is a telecommunications carrier regulated by the Act. A secondary issue is whether the district court erred in dismissing the corporate plaintiff as a party because it was not represented by an attorney.

Maydak filed a complaint on behalf of himself and Confidential Services of America, Inc. (“Confidential”), a Nevada corporation in which he is a stockholder. He sought a declaratory judgment that neither he nor the corporation is liable to Bonded Credit Company (“Bonded”), a collection agency, for an amount of money allegedly owed because of calls made to a 1-900 telephone number. The district court held that because none of the parties to the action was a telecommunication carrier, subject matter jurisdiction did not exist under the Act. We agree and affirm.

The district court’s jurisdiction is at issue on appeal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . The appeal was timely filed under Rule 4(a), Federal Rules…