Class Action Seeks to Halt Text Messages Sent by SBA-Approved Lender

Block Equity Group sent Leon Weingrad telemarketing text messages Feb. 28 and March 28 in an attempt to sell him Small Business Administration-approved loans, alleged the Pennsylvania resident’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Monday (docket 9:24-cv-02618) in U.S. District Court for Eastern New York. The complaint alleges Block violated the TCPA by sending telemarketing text messages to Weingrad and other putative class members whose numbers are listed on the national do not call registry, and that it did so without their written consent. The defendant also called people who had previously asked to no longer receive calls, said the complaint. Weingrad and the class have been harmed by the acts of Block because their privacy has been violated and they were annoyed and harassed, it said. The calls also occupied their phone lines, storage space and bandwidth, “rendering them unavailable for legitimate communication, including while driving, working, and performing other critical tasks,” it said.