Archive for 'tcpa'

TCPA Class Action Complaint Against Westlake Financial Services

Thursday, February 7th, 2013 at 3:09 pm  
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On behalf of a client and others similarly situated, Lemberg & Associates filed a class action lawsuit in Scott v. Westlake Services LLC, dba Westlake Financial Services. The suit alleges that Westlake Services negligently, knowingly, and/or willfully placed automated calls (“robocalls”) to our client’s cell phone in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

The class representative was subjected to repeated cell phone calls from Westlake Services, in which Westlake Financial Services used an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). The TCPA prohibits ATDS calls and calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone without prior express consent by the person being called.

Even though our client asked Westlake Financial Services to stop making robocalls to her cell phone, the company continued to do so. Moreover, she never gave her prior express consent to receive such calls.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, the proposed class consists of all people within the U.S. who received one or more cell phone calls from Westlake Financial Services and who didn’t provide prior express consent for such calls.

The suit seeks statutory damages of $500 per call, triple damages of $1,500 per call, and injunctive relief prohibiting future calls from Westlake Financial Services.

If you received a cell phone call from Westlake Financial Services without your consent, call Lemberg & Associates at
.

Portfolio Recovery Associates Loses TCPA Robocall Appeal

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 5:42 pm  
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling that a consumer only consents to a debt collection robocall to his or her cell phone if the cell phone number is provided on the initial credit application. In Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, the appellate court upheld a lower court’s injunction preventing the debt buyer from calling consumers’ cell phones in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It further ruled that the lower court was correct in provisionally certifying a class in the class action lawsuit. According to the court’s opinion, the class was limited to “all persons using a cellular telephone number that ‘(1) PRA did not obtain either from a creditor or from the Injunctive Class member; and (2) has a California area-code; or (3) where PRA’s records identify the Injunctive Class member as residing in California.’”

Portfolio Recovery argued that provisional class certification shouldn’t have been granted because some of the affected consumers might have agreed to be contacted at phone numbers obtained after the original transaction. The appellate court cited a Federal Communications Commission 2008 ruling, saying, “prior express consent is deemed granted only if the wireless telephone number was provided by the consumer to the creditor, and only if it was provided at the time of the transaction that resulted in the debt at issue. Thus, consumers who provided their cellular telephone numbers to creditors after the time of the original transaction are not deemed to have consented to be contacted at those numbers
for purposes of the TCPA.”

This decision is definitely a victory for consumers, and will help to ensure that debt collectors can’t robocall consumer cell phone numbers that they have obtained through skip-tracing tactics.

AllianceOne Settles in TCPA Class Action

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 6:06 pm  
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AllianceOne Receivables Management has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the debt collector violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by calling cell phones using an automated dialer (robocalls) or with a prerecorded voice message without first getting the recipients’ consent.

According to a press release issued by the attorney in the case, AllianceOne denies any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the case rather than engage in protracted litigation. The settlement, which will have to be approved by the court, requires AllianceOne to pay $9 million into a settlement fund.

Consumers eligible for the settlement are those who received an AllianceOne robocall on their cell phones or pagers without their prior consent between February 9, 2004 and November 30, 2010. Claims can be filed at http://www.allianceonesettlement.com/.

Federal Trade Commission Shuts Down Robocalling Telemarketer

Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 12:09 pm  
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robosignThe Federal Trade Commission announced that it has reached a settlement with SBN Peripherals dba Asia Pacific Telecom that bans the company from telemarketing and forces them to pony up $3 million in assets. According to the FTC press release, the agency’s complaint alleged that the company violated the law by using robocalls to consumers without their permission, called consumers who had signed up for the Do Not Call Registry, and displayed vague caller ID information.

As a consumer, you have a number of rights under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. We’ve developed a new resource section on StopCollector that provides information on the TCPA, which can be found at http://stopcollector.com/tcpa.php. We hope you find it helpful.

Congress to Consider Authorizing Robo-Debt Collection Calls to Cell Phones

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 at 7:37 pm  
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The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing on Friday, November 4, to consider H.R. 3035, “The Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011.” The Act seeks to amend the Telephone Consumer Protection Act which, among other things, empowered the FCC to enact the Do-Not-Call Registry. It also prohibited companies from using autodialers to place calls to cell phones.

The Republican majority on the Subcommittee has issued a backgrounder on H.R. 3035 that emphasizes the difference between “autodialers” (that make calls at random) and “predictive dialers” (which are often used by debt collection agencies). It also emphasizes that, today, many people use only cell phones (to the exclusion of land lines) and that some people have unlimited calling, while others have “buckets of minutes.”

H.R. 3035 would allow debt collection agencies and others to use predictive dialers when calling cell phones, and would insert a loophole that redefines “prior express consent” to enable businesses much more latitude in calling consumers with whom they have a tenuous relationship at best. Essentially, any time you give a phone number to a business, they would then have the right to call you – on your land line or on your cell phone.

What’s problematic about this legislation? First, the “prior express consent” language is a frontal assault on consumer privacy. Second, allowing debt collection agencies and other business to robo-call consumer cell phones is not only invasive, but essentially adds to the profit margin of debt collection agencies. Think about it. Real human beings are already allowed to call cell phone numbers. Debt collection agencies don’t want to pay real human beings to call cell phone numbers. They want to add to their bottom lines by robo-calling consumers using predictive dialers. Why should Congress pass legislation that lets the debt collection industry avoid hiring real people – particularly when unemployment is astronomically high?

Not surprisingly, the debt collection industry association, ACA, is pushing its members to call their Congressmembers in support of H.R. 3035. If you feel inclined to voice your opinion about the legislation, following is a list of Subcommittee members. You can look up their websites and contact information in the Directory of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Republicans:
Greg Walden (OR) Chair
Lee Terry (NE) Vice Chair
Cliff Stearns (FL)
John Shimkus (IL)
Mary Bono Mack (CA)
Mike Rogers (MI)
Brian Bilbray (CA)
Charlie Bass (NH)
Marsha Blackburn (TN)
Phil Gingrey (GA)
Steve Scalise (LA)
Bob Latta (OH)
Brett Guthrie (KY)
Adam Kinzinger (IL)
Joe Barton (TX)
Fred Upton (MI)

Democrats:
Anna G. Eshoo (CA)
Edward J. Markey (MA)
Michael F. Doyle (PA)
Doris O. Matsui (CA)
Donna Christensen (VI)
John Barrow (GA)
Edolphus Towns (NY)
Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ)
Bobby L. Rush (IL)
Diana DeGette (CO)
John D. Dingell (MI)
Henry A. Waxman (CA)