In an important decision for the collection industry, the court in Michel v. Credit Protection Ass’n L.P., No. 14-cv-8452, 2017 WL 3620809 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 23, 2017), refused to find a debt collection company liable under the TCPA for cell phone calls made on behalf of one creditor (ComEd) when the plaintiff’s oral revocation of … Continue Reading
In a watershed ruling for businesses facing the recent onslaught of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that consumers cannot revoke their consent to receive automated or prerecorded cell phone calls if they previously consented to receive those calls as part of a binding contract. See Reyes v. Lincoln … Continue Reading
Federal Communications Commission announced new rules on Thursday that imposes limitations on private collection agencies and servicers seeking to collect on behalf of federal debts. While the TCPA places limitations around many autodialed calls, it provides an exception to liability for federal debt collection calls, such for as some mortgages and student loans. Under the new … Continue Reading
In a 6-3 decision issued today, the Supreme Court ruled that defendants cannot rely on a strategic offer of judgment to the named plaintiff to moot the claims of the putative class. After an unfavorable Ninth Circuit decision, U.S. Navy contractor Campbell-Ewald asked the high court to consider, inter alia, whether defendants can strategically offer … Continue Reading
A recent opinion from the Southern District of California suggests that now there is no bright-line rule regarding what qualifies as human intervention for purposes of determining whether an autodialer was used. In denying a motion for summary judgment filed by Yahoo, the court found that: “there are genuine issues of fact as to whether the … Continue Reading
On Thursday, October 29, 2015, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment of a proposed class action accusing PayPal of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending users unsolicited text messages, following a hearing in which a judge said the claims were among the “silliest” he’s encountered. Opinion is available here: Roberts v. Paypal. Plaintiff David Roberts … Continue Reading
On August 17, 2015, following objections from several class members, counsel representing a class of customers in a suit alleging Chase Bank USA illegally called customer’s cellphones without their consent cut their request for fees in a proposed $34 million settlement by $1.5 million. The attorneys said the $9.5 million, down from the original request … Continue Reading
On August 3, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a class action accusing Bob Wines Nursery Inc., of sending unsolicited faxes didn’t suspend the statute of limitations for a later-filed action, rejecting Plaintiff’s argument that because the first action never ruled on the class certification, the limitations was tolled. In January 2010, Plaintiff Aero filed … Continue Reading
By Judith L. Harris, Henry Pietrkowski, David Reidy and Ashley Shively on Posted in TCPA
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally released its long awaited TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order, which resolved 21 petitions involving a wide variety of issues regarding the enforcement and interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The FCC had voted in favor of the Ruling June 18 at an … Continue Reading
