A growing avalanche of lawsuits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act spurred industry groups and businesses, particularly financial services companies, to file more than 20 petitions with the Federal Communications Commission seeking clarifications and interpretations of the TCPA’s requirements.  An announcement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler indicates that the Commissioners will be acting on the

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 18 announcement that it may decide whether a Rule 68 offer of judgment for complete relief moots potential class claims, the Second Circuit issued an amended ruling on May 21 that partially answered that question in the negative, further compounding a split among the federal circuit

Lawsuits filed by consumers under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act all increased from February to March 2015, according to the latest report from WebRecon.

FDCPA lawsuits increased by 3.9 percent (892 to 927), from February to March, and FCRA lawsuits increased 3.3 percent (245 to

Advertising agency Campbell-Ewald Co. began sending text messages through its subcontractor, MindMatic LLC, in 2006 as part of a Navy-approved effort to tap new technologies in recruitment campaigns, the company says.  Among the recipients of the message, which began with “Destined for something big? Do it in the Navy,” was the plaintiff who said he

In Lary v. Trinity Physician Fin. & Ins. Servs., et al., Case No. 14-11036, the Eleventh Circuit narrowly interpreted the “willfully or knowingly” provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), which gives rise to treble damages.  In Lary, the plaintiff filed a pro se complaint alleging that the defendants sent a fax

On February 17, the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Telephone Science Corp. v. Trading Advantage LLC, et al. denied a motion to dismiss and a motion to compel discovery in an action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  The interesting thing about the orders were not the denials themselves

In a recent decision applying established Telephone Consumer Protection Act law to the developing text application market, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found in Glauser v. GroupMe, Inc. that group texts did not violate the TCPA because they required human intervention.  Specifically, the court found that the “welcome texts” –

On January 21, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania struck a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq. (“FDCPA”) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 47 U.S.C. §§ 227 et seq. (“TCPA”).  Although the judge allowed the lead plaintiff to pursue

Join us at the American Conference Institute’s 22nd National Forum on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation. Two full days of expert strategies for in-house and outside counsel on navigating class actions, litigation, and government enforcement actions in the consumer finance industry.

April 13 – 14, 2015; Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza

On January 5, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it was creating a new complaint portal.  As shown on the FCC form for complaints, which can be found here (Word format) and here (.pdf), this portal is very much designed to capture complaints arising from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and, specifically, automatic telephone