Texas Judge Denies Halsted's Motion to Dismiss Phone Solicitation Suit

U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn for Northern Texas denied as moot Halstead Financial Services’ March 8 motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim in a telephone solicitation lawsuit brought by Sage Telecom, said a Wednesday order (docket 3:23-cv-00463) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas. Sage filed a first amended complaint Tuesday listing screen shots of complaints from individuals reporting they were harassed by Halstead representatives over bills and services they didn’t have and “debt that they do not owe,” said the amended complaint. One of Sage’s customers received multiple calls a day, many with no response when the individual picked up the phone. The individual has no debt or unpaid bills and had a previous lawsuit due to someone with the same name. Another call recipient received daily calls from Halsted from different numbers with the same Caller ID, calling it “harassment for no reason.” One recipient was cited for “hospital visits that didn’t occur,” with a pitch to pay off the “bill” at a 50% discount. Halsted representatives made at least 454 telephone solicitations to Sage’s customers, the complaint alleges. The suit claims violation of the Texas Business & Commercial Code for “continuous and repetitive telephone solicitations” without obtaining a registration certificate from the secretary of state’s office.