Collections Firm Agrees to $5 Million Settlement for Allegedly Failing to Disclose Recorded Calls

Debt collection firm Medicredit, Inc. has agreed to a preliminary settlement of $5 million to settle a class action lawsuit that was filed over allegations that they failed to disclose to consumers that calls were being recorded. Many states have call recording and disclosure regulations. As a best practice, businesses should always disclose when calls are being recorded, regardless of which state the calls are being made into. Read a copy of the settlement agreement here. Learn more about telemarketing rules and telemarketing compliance.

New Jersey Judge Rules in Defendant's Favor in TCPA Consent Case

In Nicole Rando v. Edible Arrangements International, Inc., a New Jersey judge has granted the defendant's motion to dismiss. Plaintiff Nicole Rando filed the class action lawsuit after she allegedly received unsolicited text messages from Edible Arrangements. Rando claimed that she continued to receive several messages after she had opted-out. The wording that she used to opt-out included: (1) "Take my contact info off please." (2) "I want to confirm that I have been removed off your contacts." (3) "I asked to be removed from this service a few times. Stop the messages." and (4) "Again I want to stop this service thank you." The automated instructions provided by Edible Arrangements indicated that the proper way to opt-out was to simply say "stop," which Rando never did. The judge held that because Rando had never appropriately opted-out, Edible Arrangements could not be held liable for the unsolicited texts. Although this is a favorable ruling for the industry, businesses should honor all opt-out requests, even if the wording isn't exactly as instructed. Read a copy of the judge's decision here. Contact a TCPA lawyer or telemarketing attorney if you are ever facing a similar TCPA case.

Man Fighting $120 Million FCC Fine 

Last June, the FCC filed a complaint against a man who allegedly made over 96 million illegal robocalls to consumers. The agency claims that at least 80,000 of those calls included spoofed caller ID information, a violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act. The defendant, Adrian Abramovich, appeared before the senate last week and argued that he is “not the kingpin that is alleged.” Read a Newsweek article about this case here. Learn more about telemarketing fines here.

Nevada Federal Court Rules that CBE Group's Product is not ATDS

A Nevada Federal Court has ruled in favor of the defendant in Marshall v. The CBE Group, Inc. The plaintiff in the case filed a TCPA lawsuit alleging that The CBE Group (CBE) had called her using an ATDS. Citing the recent ACA v. FCC decision and stating that it would apply a strict definition of ATDS, the court held that CBE's, "communications infrastructure does not constitute an ATDS." The plaintiff failed to show that CBE's system could make calls without call-by-call human intervention. Read the decision here. Learn more about the definition of ATDS here.

Recent State Law Changes

Three state laws have been passed that will affect telemarketers doing business in certain states: 1) In Florida, "Voicemail Transmissions" will now be viewed the same as "Telephonic Sales Calls" under the state's telemarketing act. A “Voicemail Transmission” will be defined as "technologies that deliver a voice message directly to a voicemail application, service, or device." 2) Florida statute § 501.6175 requires telephone sellers to keep records of their calling information for two years after the date that the information first becomes part of their business records. Call logs, consent and request data, and scripts are all required to be saved for two years under this new statute. 3)  West Virginia has passed House Bill 4150, which "[Prohibits] telemarketing companies from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller identification information." Make sure you understand all telemarketing regulations so that your business can have full telemarketing compliance. Consult with a telemarketing attorney if you'd like to have a telemarketing audit performed. A telemarketing lawyer can help you understand robocall laws, autodialer laws, cell phone telemarketing laws, etc.