California court vindicates HCI (once again) as not covered by TCPA, but finds 70 calls over four months potentially harassing
A recent California decision touched upon two recurring sources of lawsuits against debt collectors: whether calls are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and whether the sheer number of calls can constitute harassment barred
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act discriminates between types of calls based on content: persons calling to seek collection of federal debts get an exemption from TCPA requirements, while other types of calls do not. Federal courts have split over whether this discrimination is constitutional, setting up in the long term a possible Supreme Court
On September 10, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers entered a $267 million judgment against a debt collection agency that made more than 534,000 telephone calls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The judgment ended three years of class action litigation after plaintiff Ignacio Perez and two others alleged that defendant Rash Curtis & Associates
When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission[1] in March 2018, many viewed the decision as a potential swan song for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Experts predicted the FCC, buoyed by Chairman Ajit Pai, would step in quickly to reform existing regulatory guidance interpreting
On July 16, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a decision from the Eastern District of Missouri awarding $32 million in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action. Significantly, in doing so, the Court upheld the district court’s decision to limit the jury’s award to $10 per call for a
On June 25, the Federal Trade Commission announced a partnership with law enforcement to target illegal robocalls, including 94 actions aimed at operations around the nation that are responsible for more than a billion robocalls. “Operation Call it Quits” is aimed at reducing the number of pre-recorded telemarketing calls and includes new information aimed at
On Thursday, May 30, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a $61 million verdict in the closely-watched Krakauer v. Dish Network, LLC class action, finding that “the district court properly applied the law and prudently exercised its discretion.” Krakauer v. Dish Network, Case No 18-1518, slip op. at 3
Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit struck down a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) that exempted government-backed debts from the statute’s prohibition on automated calls to cellular telephones. According to the Court in American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., et al v. FCC, the debt-collection exemption does not pass strict scrutiny
Background
In Varela v. Lamps Plus, Inc.,
On April 5, the Minnesota Department of Commerce issued guidance to the motor vehicle sales finance industry intended to clarify the types of entities that meet the definition of “sales finance company” under Minnesota law. The guidance solidified the Commerce Department’s stance that companies that purchase motor vehicle retail installment contracts must obtain a motor