Mich. Consumer Sues Warranty Company for Fraud, TCPA Violations

Using a “fraudulent marketing scheme,” First American Home Warranty leads consumers to believe they have been overcharged on their utility bill and it will give them a rebate for the overcharges, alleges a Wednesday Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit (docket 2:23-cv-11412) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Detroit.

FAHW uses a third-party call center with automatic telephone dialing systems that initiate calls to consumers en masse, alleged the complaint. The systems deliver a prerecorded audio message, seeking prequalifying information from consumers, such as whether they want a refund for overpayment of their electric and gas utility bills; the system then transfers the call to a live agent if the consumers meet prequalification criteria, it said.

The company uses a third-party call center to initiate deceptive telemarketing calls “to hide behind the anonymity of the third party and thereby avoid potential liability under the TCPA or other consumer protection laws,” said the complaint. In the scheme, the telemarketer explains the consumer has a refund coming and then asks for name, address and credit card information, said the complaint. “In reality, there has been no overcharging on the consumer’s electric or gas bill, and there is no rebate or refund coming to the consumer,” it said: “Instead, the consumer is being signed up for a FAHW home warranty plan” without knowledge or consent.

On March 1, defendant Mark Dobronski, a resident of Washtenaw County, Michigan, and Orange County, Florida, received the first phone call from a recorded voice claiming to be his utility company, saying he had been paying more than he used on his gas and electric bill. He was told to press “1” to get “your compensation.” The telemarketer said she was processing a $397 refund to his credit card and asked for the number. Dobronski gave the agent a faux name and controlled credit card number designed to log a transaction with his financial institution but to decline charge attempts. The same day, FAHW attempted to charge Dobronski’s card, but the charge was declined, it said.

Dobronski received 11 similar calls that day, he said, and dialed back the caller ID number each time. He received recorded messages saying, “Thank you for calling Angie Leads formerly Home Advisor,” said the complaint. The numbers had the same first eight digits, suggesting “the calls were initiated by the same calling party,” the complaint said. That many calls were received in “rapid succession” in three minutes “evidences that an automatic telephone dialing system was utilized,” he said. He detailed several more calls over the next few months.

Dobronski called FAHW and was able to verify that the company did sell home warranties to Charles Emory and James Harlow, aliases he gave to telemarketers. FAHW has been sued for identical TCPA violations at least twice in the past year, said the complaint, “but the illegal telephone solicitations still continue.”

The complaint asserts FAHW violated the TCPA’s autodialer call, hang-up call, abandoned call, failure to identify, no automated opt out, do not call, false identity and falsified caller ID sections, the complaint alleges. A number of the calls violated Michigan’s Telephone Companies as Common Carriers Act (MTCCCA) and Home Sales Solicitation Act (MHSSA), the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, it asserted.

In addition to an injunction enjoining FAHW from initiating calls to his phone lines, Dobronski seeks $500 per violation for 63 violations of claims one through eight, for total damages of $31,500, trebled to $94,500 because violations were willful and knowing, said the complaint. He seeks additional damages of $17,500 for violation of the MTCCCA, the MHSSA and the FTSA for total damages of $111,500. FAHW didn’t comment.