Robocalls are the top consumer complaint in the U.S., and the "conduct" of DirecTV and its debt collector, Credence Resource Management, “is a good reason why,” alleged plaintiff Joseph Brennan’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Saturday (docket 2:24-cv-03019) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. A 2008 FCC order held that a company on whose behalf a phone call is made bears the responsibility for any TCPA violations, said the complaint. Credence collects debts for DirecTV and routinely violates the TCPA by using an artificial or prerecorded voice to place nonemergency calls to cellphone numbers without prior express consent, it said. The 2008 order establishes that DirecTV is “directly liable” for the calls that Credence made on its behalf, it said. DirecTV could have restricted Credence from using prerecorded messages to make the calls, but it didn’t, said the complaint. DirecTV knew that Credence was calling using prerecorded messages, it said. Brennan’s counsel even sent DirecTV a letter protesting its collection calling practices, but Credence continued calling the plaintiff using a prerecorded message even after receiving the letter, it said. Brennan estimates receiving at least five prerecorded calls from Credence, on DirecTV’s behalf, between Feb. 6 and March 1, said the complaint. Upon information and “good faith belief,” the plaintiff said the calls and prerecorded voice messages to his cellphone were intended for a person named Whitley, to collect a $509 DirecTV debt. Brennan doesn’t know anyone named Whitley, and he has never had, a DirecTV account, it said. The plaintiff incurred actual harm as a result of the calls, “in that he suffered an invasion of privacy, an intrusion into his life, and a private nuisance,” it said.

Health insurance company Wellpoint Washington “routinely violates” the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by using an artificial or prerecorded voice to place nonemergency telemarketing calls to wrong or reassigned cellphone numbers, alleged Adelina Mendoza’s class action Friday (docket 2:24-cv-00497) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle. The plaintiff for about six years has been “the sole and customary user” of her cellphone number, yet soon after obtaining that number, she began receiving Amerigroup Washington calls intended for someone named Serenity Sheridan, said the complaint. Amerigroup changed its name to Wellpoint in January, it said. Mendoza found the company’s artificial or prerecorded voice calls “to be irritating and invasive,” it said.

Courtney Hill voluntarily dismissed her Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action claims against InvestorPlace Media, said her notice Friday (docket 5:23-cv-00111) in U.S. District Court for Western North Carolina in Statesville. Hill’s claims are dismissed with prejudice and without prejudice as to any putative class claims, said the notice. Hill alleged that InvestorPlace, which sells subscribers stock market news and trading tips, doesn’t honor consumer requests to opt-out of text message solicitations, even after sending consumers confirmations that they’re unsubscribed from receiving future solicitations (see 2307130001).

Sydney Lim’s phone number has continuously been listed on the national do not call registry since May 2017, yet she received at least two dozen prerecorded telemarketing calls from Amity Debt Relief or its agents between Jan. 4 and Feb.14, alleged her Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-04778) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Camden. The calls were to promote Amity’s offer of an “economic impact relief loan,” a type of debt consolidation loan designed to help people reduce high-interest debt, said the complaint. The New Jersey resident phoned Amity Feb. 10 and spoke with a live agent, requesting that she be removed from Amity’s call lists, it said. The agent confirmed that removal, yet she continued receiving the calls, it said. Lim seeks injunctive relief and treble damages because he alleges the TCPA violations were "negligent, willful, or knowing."

Daniel Human voluntarily dismissed with prejudice his Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against BMW of West St. Louis, said his notice Thursday (docket 4:23-cv-01577) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri in St. Louis. Human had alleged the dealership made unsolicited telemarketing robocalls to his cellphone, a number listed on both the national and Missouri do not call registries (see 2312110003). The dealership defended against those allegations in January with an unusually lengthy attack on the TCPA’s constitutionality (see 2401100029).

Plaintiffs Joseph Bond and Tonia Jewell-Vines and defendant Allstate have exchanged written discovery requests and responses in their Telephone Consumer Protection Act dispute, said their joint status report Thursday (docket 1:23-cv-04385) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The parties have held “multiple, productive conferences” over their discovery responses, and those discussions are ongoing, with “no disputes ripe” for the court’s consideration, said the report. Plaintiffs Bond and Jewell-Vines allege in their second amended TCPA class action that Allstate hires insurance agents across the country to conduct telemarketing on its behalf, and authorizes those insurance agents to place telemarketing calls, including prerecorded calls and calls to numbers listed on the national do not call list (see 2311070030). But Allstate contends that those thousands of Allstate agents are independent contractors, and the company can’t respond on behalf of all of them. The parties are conferring to select dates in May for the depositions of Bond and Jewell-Vines, said the joint status report. Allstate has served document subpoenas on AT&T and Verizon for the plaintiffs’ call records, it said. Under an agreement among the parties involving the redaction of certain call records, responsive documents were produced directly to the plaintiffs’ counsel, who will produce the redacted records to Allstate upon completion of the redaction process, it said. The plaintiffs have served document subpoenas on Onvoy, Peerless Network, HyperCube Networks, Telcast Networks and BCM One Cloud Communications seeking records relating to phone numbers that were allegedly used to place calls to Jewell-Vines, said the report. The plaintiffs have also served document subpoenas on two Allstate agents, it said. Those agents have produced certain documents in response to the subpoenas, “and the conferral process is ongoing with respect to the additional documents requested,” it said. The parties believe that further discovery is needed for them to continue earlier discussions about the possibility of a negotiated settlement, said the report.

Mark Ortega has had his cellphone number listed on the national do not call registry for more than a year, yet he received an unsolicited telemarketing call Feb. 29 from RCN Group seeking to sell him a business loan, alleged Ortega’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Wednesday (docket 5:24-cv-00369) in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in San Antonio. Ortega’s attorney emailed RCN March 4 demanding damages because the plaintiff’s number was listed on the national DNC registry and because he didn’t consent to receiving RCN’s communications, said the complaint. RCN responded the next day, stating that it pays a call center for every lead, it said. These messages from RCN are being placed to consumers without consent, including to consumers who registered their phone numbers on the DNC, as per the San Antonio resident’s experience, it said.

TrueCoverage used illegal prerecorded telemarketing to promote health insurance over the phone by making solicitation calls to plaintiff Jason Hewett and others without their prior express consent, alleged Hewitt’s class action Tuesday (docket 7:24-cv-00339) in U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina. Hewett’s residential cellphone number has been on the national do not call registry since he listed it there in April 2022, said his complaint. The North Carolina resident nevertheless received at least one prerecorded telemarketing call on that number, promoting TrueCoverage’s offering for health insurance services, it said. Hewitt’s counsel attempted to contact TrueCoverage to learn why Hewitt was called using “highly illegal prerecorded robocalls,” it said. TrueCoverage’s counsel responded by contending that it hired a vendor to place the calls at issue, but it refused to name the vendor and instead attempted to make Hewitt a settlement offer, it said. The plaintiff’s privacy has been violated because TrueCoverage’s call to him was unwanted, it said. Hewitt never provided his consent or requested the call, it said.

Asher Bronstin listed his cellphone number on the national do not call registry in 2021, and it has been registered there continuously since, yet Simply Better Brands, a Scottsdale-based seller of cannabis goods, sent him at least five telemarketing text messages advertising its cannabidiol gummies, alleged Bronstin’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-00792) in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. Though Bronstin replied “stop” to opt out, the messages “unsurprisingly continued,” said the complaint. The plantiff never provided his consent or requested the text messages, which were all “unwanted, nonconsensual encounters,” it said. Bronstin and all members of the class have been harmed by the acts of the defendant “because their privacy has been violated and they were annoyed and harassed,” it said. The text messages 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.

The parties in Carlos Delgadillo’s Jan. 7 class action against FCA US for the automaker’s alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations (see 2401090001) anticipate 14 months will be required to complete discovery, after which plaintiff Delgadillo will move for class certification, said their joint case management report and discovery plan Monday (docket 2:24-cv-10039) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Detroit. Delgadillo anticipates the disposition of his motion for class certification “will significantly impact the scope and timing of trial,” said the report. FCA, which does business as Stellantis North America, anticipates moving for summary judgment before class certification, it said. Delgadillo alleges that FCA violates the TCPA by making prerecorded voice calls to persons without consent, including after people requested that the calls stop, said the report. FCA responds that while it’s still investigating Delgadillo’s allegations, “the calls forming the basis of the claims appear to have pertained to an ongoing motor vehicle safety recall of airbag inflators that could rupture and launch metal fragments inside a vehicle,” it said. Those communications to Delgadillo thus constituted calls made for an “emergency purpose” that can’t support any claim under the TCPA, it said.