America Education Services (AES) regularly attempts to collect student loan debt using an automatic telephone dialing system to place calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, alleged plaintiff Dominic Miraglia’s complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Southern California. Miraglia, a San Diego resident, also alleges violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The plaintiff filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2022, listing AES as a creditor for an unpaid student loan balance of nearly $7,800, said the complaint. The bankruptcy court sent AES notice of the bankruptcy and automatic stay, but AES nevertheless continued phoning Miraglia to collect the debt, it said. Despite AES having notification of the plaintiff’s bankruptcy discharge, the defendant failed to report to the credit reporting agencies the debt as discharged, it said. AES’ “overwhelming” collection activities and substantial intrusion upon seclusion “directly and proximately” caused Miraglia “undue stress, irritability, anxiety, and confusion,” it said. As a direct result of AES’ actions, the plaintiff spent time and money consulting a lawyer, and incurred attorney fees and costs, it said.

A Paramus, New Jersey, restaurant and its owners “willfully engaged” in wrongful acts when they intercepted the June 2021 pay-per-view broadcast of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul exhibition boxing match for free, alleged Joe Hand Promotions’ Communications Act complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for New Jersey (docket 2:24-cv-06723). Four members of the Perides family, who own The Terrace at Biagio’s restaurant, knew or should have known that the interception and exhibition of the broadcast wasn’t “properly authorized,” said the complaint. The broadcast wasn’t for private viewing, nor was it for residential, noncommercial purposes, it said. The restaurant sold food and drinks during the broadcast, and the public display of the program was to entice patrons to the establishment to spend money while viewing it, it said. The Perideses intentionally pirated the program for "their own economic gain,” while legitimate establishments paid substantial sums for the proper commercial sublicense to show the broadcast to their patrons, it said. The complaint seeks maximum damages of $100,000 for the willful violation of Section 605 of the Communications Act, or alternatively the maximum of $50,000 for the willful violation of Section 553.

Ronald Lightfoot filed a class action against SelectQuote to stop its practice of making unwanted and unsolicited prerecorded calls to the cellphones of consumers nationwide, “and to obtain redress for all persons injured by its conduct,” said the plaintiff’s complaint Wednesday (docket 1:24-cv-04673) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The recipients of the telemarketing calls “are not SelectQuote customers, have not made an inquiry with SelectQuote, and did not provide SelectQuote with consent to make telemarketing calls to their phones,” said the complaint. Through its “instant telemarketing campaign,” SelectQuote has initiated “millions” of unauthorized prerecorded calls to consumers across the U.S. without prior consent, “in clear violation” of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, it said. The defendant hired “third-party lead generators” to place the “nonconsensual” telemarketing calls at issue in the complaint, it said. The lead generators placed calls to Lightfoot and the class “at the direction of SelectQuote and with SelectQuote’s oversight,” it said. SelectQuote even entered into contracts with lead generators to transfer qualified leads to the company’s call centers, it said. The defendant “created criteria” for qualifying consumers, and it approved scripts for the lead generators’ use, it said. SelectQuote paid the lead generator for each call transfer, it said. Through its conduct, the company has caused consumers “actual harm,” said the complaint. Illinois resident Lightfoot and class members “were subjected to the aggravation that necessarily accompanies the receipt of such calls,” it said.

Volunteer Buyers places cold calls to consumers to promote its home buying options but in so doing, it violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by placing unsolicited calls to phone numbers that are listed on the national do not call registry, alleged plaintiff Gina Moore’s class action Wednesday (docket 2:24-cv-02377) in U.S. District Court for Western Tennessee. Moore, a Memphis resident, received an unsolicited call from Volunteer Buyers on April 17, said the complaint. When Moore answered, a representative told her he was calling to make an offer on her home, it said. Moore told the rep that she won’t sell the property “and that she’s concerned about the methods Volunteer Buyers used to acquire her contact information,” it said. The call ended with the plaintiff telling the rep not to call her anymore, it said. She nevertheless received a second solicitation call from Volunteer Buyers a few minutes later, it said. The unauthorized solicitation calls have harmed Moore “in the form of annoyance, nuisance, and invasion of privacy,” plus they have occupied her phone line and disturbed the use and enjoyment of her phone, it said.

Trulieve, a Tallahassee-based dispensary of medical and recreational cannabis products, engages in unsolicited text-messaging to promote its goods and services, and continues to text-message consumers after they have opted out of the company’s solicitations, alleged plaintiff Juliana Martinez’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 0:24-cv-60952) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida. Trulieve also engages in telemarketing “without the required policies and procedures,” and without proper training of its telemarketing personnel, also in violation of the TCPA, alleged Martinez’s complaint. The Florida resident phoned Trulieve May 1, requesting to opt out of receiving its text messages, said the complaint. Trulieve subsequently acknowledged her opt-out request but resumed sending Martinez its text messages May 9, it said. She tried again the next day to opt out of the text messages, but Trulieve again ignored her request, it said. Martinez estimates the dispensary sent her nine text messages after her first opt-out request, including six after the second such request, it said. Trulieve’s refusal to honor the plaintiff’s opt-out requests shows that the defendant hasn’t instituted procedures for maintaining a list of people who request not to receive text messages from the company, said the complaint. “The precise details regarding its lack of requisite policies and procedures” are solely within Trulieve’s “knowledge and control,” it said. Upon information and belief, Trulieve has access to outbound transmission reports for all text messages sent advertising or promoting its services and goods, it said. Those reports show the dates, times, target phone numbers and content of each message sent to Martinez and the class members, it said. Trulieve’s text messages caused Martinez and the class members harm, including inconvenience, invasion of privacy, aggravation, annoyance and violation of their statutory privacy rights, said the complaint.

To promote its leather goods and services, Portland Leather engages in unsolicited text messaging and continues to text message consumers after they have opted out of those solicitations, alleged plaintiff Carolina Wyche’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Monday (docket 2:24-cv-01424) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Louisiana. Portland’s illegal conduct “has resulted in the invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation, and disruption of the daily life of thousands of individuals,” said Wyche’s complaint. Portland has caused multiple text messages to be transmitted to Wyche’s cellphone, it said. The plaintiff first asked Portland on Feb. 2 to stop contacting her, but the company sent her at least a dozen more text messages through May 25, said the complaint. The company doesn’t honor consumer requests to opt-out of text message solicitations, though Wyche’s cellphone number has been listed on the national do not call registry since August 2006, it said. Portland’s failure to honor opt-out requests demonstrates that it doesn’t maintain written policies and procedures regarding its text messaging marketing, it said. It also shows that Portland fails to properly train its telemarketing personnel and that it doesn’t maintain a standalone DNC list, it said. Portland’s text message “spam” caused Wyche and the class members harm, “including violations of their statutory rights, trespass, annoyance, nuisance, invasion of their privacy, and intrusion upon seclusion,” it said. The text messages also occupied storage space on Wyche’s and class members’ phones, it said.

Plaintiff Paul Ozburn is seeking a jury trial in hopes of stopping RTJ Investments from violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. RTJ is making prerecorded telemarketing calls without consumers' consent and phoning numbers on the national do not call registry, Ozburn’s class action alleged Friday (docket 4:24-cv-00373) in U.S. District Court for Western Missouri in Kansas City. RTJ is a real estate investment company that purchases homes from consumers in Kansas and Missouri, Ozburn’s complaint said. RTJ places calls to solicit its home buying solutions, it said. In job postings, RTJ and its owner, Ricky Thomas, advertise positions for real estate cold callers, it said. Ozburn listed his cellphone number on the national DNC registry in June 2007, yet he received multiple solicitation calls from RTJ offering cash for his home, the complaint said. He isn’t interested in buying or selling a property, and his home wasn’t listed for sale during the time he received calls from RTJ, it said. The unauthorized solicitation calls that Ozburn received from RTJ or on its behalf have harmed Ozburn “in the form of annoyance, nuisance, and invasion of privacy.” In addition, they occupied his phone line and disturbed the use and enjoyment of his phone, the class action said.

Plaintiff Kristi VonDeylen seeks statutory damages and injunctive relief so defendant Aptive Environmental will stop making unsolicited phone calls and sending text messages to numbers on the national do not call registry, said VonDeylen’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Friday (docket 0:24-cv-02051) in U.S. District Court for Minnesota. VonDeylen and members of the class “suffered a concrete injury in fact, whether tangible or intangible,” that’s directly traceable to Aptive’s conduct, “and is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision in this action,” said her complaint. VonDeylen signed a contract in May 2020 for Aptive’s quarterly pest control services, but never consented to receiving Aptive’s text messages, it said. Aptive abruptly stopped coming to VonDeylen’s home after January 2021, and VonDeylen didn’t pay for Aptive’s services after that, it said. Yet “out of nowhere” in June 2023, VonDeylen began receiving incessant text messages from Aptive asking her to create an autopay account, it said. Aptive didn’t obtain VonDeylen’s express consent before sending her the unsolicited text messages, it said. Aptive also ignored VonDeylen’s “explicit and repeated instructions to cease texting her.” As such,

Thomas Grant is voluntarily dismissing without prejudice his Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, with each party to bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs, said Grant’s notice Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00281) in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio in Columbus. The plaintiff’s dismissal rendered moot Friday’s briefing deadline on whether aspects of his dispute with Ramaswamy over TCPA exemptions should be referred to the FCC under the primary jurisdiction doctrine (see 2405100024). Grant had alleged that Ramaswamy, who suspended his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination Jan. 15, placed prerecorded calls to consumers’ cellphones to promote his telephonic town hall events without first obtaining their prior express consent (see 2401240002). The plaintiff filed similar allegations May 26 against Ryan Binkley, who suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination Feb. 27 (see 2405280002). Attorney Avi Kaufman, who represents Grant in both actions, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment about the conditions of Grant’s voluntary dismissal of the claims against Ramaswamy.

Joseph Hudson seeks to stop Capital Vacations from violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by making prerecorded telemarketing calls to consumers without their consent, including calls to phone numbers that are listed on the national do not call registry, said his class action Thursday (docket 4:24-cv-00757) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. Capital Vacations employees have posted job reviews that contain details about the cold calling they engaged in to generate business for the more than 200 resort destinations it services in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, said the complaint. Consumers also have voiced their complaints online about unsolicited calls that they received from Capital Vacations, it said. Hudson personally listed his cellphone number on the DNC registry in December, yet he has received multiple prerecorded calls from Capital Vacations or on its behalf “using a multitude of phone numbers,” it said. When the O’Fallon, Missouri, resident would answer the calls, he would stay on the line and connect with a live employee so that he could ask for the calls to stop, it said. Many of the live employees told him that the calls would stop, but others simply hung up when they were told to stop calling, it said. The plaintiff alleges Capital Vacations phoned him at least 20 times between Feb. 26 and March 26 pitching various $399 vacation packages. Hudson hasn’t been looking to purchase a vacation or timeshare plan, said the complaint. The unauthorized prerecorded calls that he received from Capital Vacations have harmed him “in the form of annoyance, nuisance, and invasion of privacy,” it said. The unwanted calls also “occupied his phone line, and disturbed the use and enjoyment of his phone, in addition to the wear and tear on the phone’s hardware,” it said. The calls that Hudson received also took up his time, “as he would answer and spend time connecting to live employees so he could ask for the calls to stop,” it said.