Although several court decisions have held that ringless voicemails to a consumer’s cell phone constitute “calls” subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) autodialer prohibition, the Federal Communications...more
A bill was recently introduced in the Oklahoma legislature that would impose new limits on the use of automated dialing systems. If enacted, the bill would become effective November 1, 2022....more
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week in TransUnion, LLC. v. Ramirez that only class members who were concretely harmed by TransUnion’s FCRA violation had Article III standing to seek damages....more
6/30/2021
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
TransUnion ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by narrowing what technology qualifies as an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (“ATDS”). Among other...more
In Allan v. Pa. Higher Educ. Assistance Agency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) statutory definition of an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”)...more
Days after missing the opportunity in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants to limit the improper impact of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act on legitimate businesses, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to...more
On July 6, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s exception from its automated call restriction for calls to collect government debts...more
7/9/2020
/ ATDS ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Barr v American Association of Political Consultants Inc ,
Cell Phones ,
Compelling Governmental Interest ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Content-Based Restrictions ,
Debt Collection ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Bans ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Debt-Exception ,
Robocalling ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
TCPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has joined the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits in ruling that the “prior express consent” required by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for autodialed calls to cellular...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held last week, in Medley v. DISH Network, LLC, that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) does not allow a consumer to unilaterally revoke consent to receive...more
A group of banking trade associations have filed a “Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling, Clarification, or Waiver” with the FCC regarding how the Telephone Communication Protection Act’s “emergency purposes” exception...more
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Duran v. La Boom Disco, Inc., handed a win to the plaintiffs’ bar by holding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) statutory...more
The Federal Communications Commission, on its own motion, has issued a Declaratory Ruling to address how the Telephone Communication Protection Act’s “emergency purposes” exception applies to calls relating to the COVID-19...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s exception from its automated call restriction for calls to collect government debts violates the First Amendment of the U.S....more
1/15/2020
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Barr v American Association of Political Consultants Inc ,
Certiorari ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Content-Based Restrictions ,
Debt Collection ,
Discrimination ,
FDCPA ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Debt-Exception ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Solicitor General ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
TCPA
The FCC has issued a notice announcing that it is seeking comment on a petition filed by Capital One Services, LLC (Capital One) that asks the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling to confirm that the recipient of an opt-out...more
11/18/2019
/ Capital One ,
Comment Period ,
Credit Cards ,
FCC ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud Alerts ,
Opt-Outs ,
Regulatory Violations ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Text Messages
In Salcedo v. Hanna, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that a TCPA plaintiff lacked standing to pursue a claim based on the alleged receipt of a single, unsolicited text message....more
9/9/2019
/ Article III ,
Chattel ,
Conversion ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
Nuisance ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that unwanted, prerecorded phone messages to consumers, even without any other alleged harm, met the injury-in-fact requirement for Article III standing to bring a...more
7/24/2019
/ Article III ,
Due Process ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reduction of Damages ,
Standing ,
Statutory Damages ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently in Taggart v. Lorenzen that a creditor in a bankruptcy case may be held in civil contempt, and subject to sanction, where there is "no fair ground of doubt" about...more
6/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code § 524(a) ,
Bankruptcy Discharge Order ,
Chapter 7 ,
Civil Contempt Orders ,
Concurrent Litigation ,
Creditors ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Money Judgment ,
Reasonable Belief Test ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Review ,
Statutory Violations ,
Taggart v Lorenzen ,
Vacated
In November 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court had granted certiorari in PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, Inc., to decide whether the Hobbs Act required the district court to accept the Federal Communications...more
6/25/2019
/ Administrative Orders ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Appellate Courts ,
Binding Precedent ,
Dismissals ,
Due Process ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
FCC ,
Hobbs Act ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Judicial Review ,
Legislative Rule ,
PDR Network LLC v Carlton & Harris Chiropractic Inc ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Set-Asides ,
TCPA ,
Unsolicited Advertisements ,
Unsolicited Faxes ,
Vacated
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Duguid v. Facebook, Inc., has reaffirmed the broad reading of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) definition of an automatic...more
6/19/2019
/ ATDS ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Debt Collection ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Social Media ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages
The recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirming the district court's judgment imposing more than $61 million in damages against Dish Network for its vendor's violations of the Telephone...more
6/11/2019
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Damages ,
Dish Network ,
Do Not Call List ,
Standing ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Treble Damages ,
Willful Violations
The FCC announced that it has approved the declaratory ruling previously circulated by Chairman Pai that would allow voice service providers to start offering default call-blocking programs that are based on reasonable...more
Plans announced on May 15 by the FCC to empower voice service providers to offer more aggressive call-blocking programs could create significant problems for creditors and debt collectors. ...more
Joining similar decisions from the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Ninth Circuits, the Second Circuit held in Melito v. Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc., that the receipt of unwanted text messages, even without any...more
The U.S. Supreme Court's grant this week of the petition for certiorari in a case involving the Telephone Communication Protection Act (TCPA) prohibition on unsolicited fax advertisements could have significant implications...more
11/16/2018
/ Advertising ,
Appeals ,
ATDS ,
Chevron Deference ,
FCC ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hobbs Act ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
TCPA ,
Unsolicited Faxes
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a notice asking for comment on what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the TCPA following the Ninth Circuit’s September 20, 2018 decision in...more