FTC Bans Work-at-Home Operators from Selling Business Opportunities and Coaching Services

On December 14th, the FTC announced that they have settled a case against a company allegedly offering business opportunities and coaching services. The defendants in the case – Bob Robinson, Michael Sirois, and a number of their companies – were charged with violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule, which requires business opportunity sellers to make "certain disclosures to help consumers evaluate the opportunity" and "prohibits such sellers from making earnings claims without adequate substantiation." Under the settlement, the defendants are banned from selling business opportunities and business coaching services. They are also facing a partially suspended $35 million judgment and are required to turn over  $1.5 million worth of funds and assets. Read the FTC press release here. Many businesses like this engage in telemarketing. Make sure you understand FCC telemarketing laws.

New York Telefunder Being Targeted by State Attorney General

Telefunding business owner Mark Gelvan was banned from telefunding in the State of New York in 2004 after his phone agents allegedly impersonated police officers when they were calling potential donors. Regulators also alleged that Gelvan's company misrepresented how much of the donations would actually go to his charity clients and how much he would keep for himself. Now, the New York Attorney General is taking action against Gelvan again, alleging that he is operating a new telefunding business behind the scenes, with other individuals acting as the business owners on paper. Read an article with more details about the issue here. Telefunders as well as telemarketers should be sure not to impersonate any government employee or agency. They should also never misrepresent what their products or services actually provide or accomplish. This will help reduce complaints and regulatory attention. Learn about charitable telemarketing laws and nonprofit telemarketing laws. Whether your company does for profit or nonprofit telemarketing, make sure you understand all telemarketing rules. Consult with a telemarketing attorney to ensure full telemarketing compliance.

Kohl's Scores Big Win in TCPA Case

In Viggiano v. Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc., plaintiff Amy Viggiano alleged that Kohl's sent her unsolicited text messages after she had opted-out from receiving previous messages. Viggiano replied to the marketing messages by saying, “I’ve changed my mind and don’t want to receive these anymore,” “Please do not send any further messages,” and “I don’t want these message anymore. This is your last warning!” The terms and conditions that she accepted when she originally opted-in included the following language: "To stop receiving future Text Messages from Kohl’s pursuant to the Kohl’s Mobile Sales Alerts Program, you can text any of the following commands to 56457: STOP, CANCEL, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, END." Learn about the laws related to texting cell phones.

The court ruled that because Viggiano didn't include the right opt-out wording in her texts, "Plaintiff has not plausibly pled a TCPA violation". The defendant's motion to dismiss was granted. Read the court's opinion here. Learn more about telemarketing to cell phones, telemarketing rules, do-not-call regulations and telemarketing compliance. Contact a TCPA lawyer if you find yourself involved in a telemarketing lawsuit.

FTC Obtains Court Order Shutting Down Debt Collection Business

The FTC has obtained a court order against a company that was allegedly deceiving consumers by convincing them that they owed false debts. According to the complaint, the callers would act like lawyers from debt collection agencies and demand that the call recipients send in money to settle the debts. Included in the court order is a $702,059 judgment against the defendants. Read more about this FTC order here.

District Court Rules that One Call is Sufficient to Breach Spokeo Defense in TCPA Case

The Spokeo defense has taken another negative blow. Under the Spokeo decision, the Supreme Court ruled that in order for a plaintiff to seek relief in Federal Court, some type of concrete damage or injury must have actually occurred. Defendants in TCPA lawsuits have tried to use this decision as a defense, arguing that plaintiffs who receive unwanted phone calls have not suffered any real injury. Early last month, the Northern District of Alabama held in Hossfeld v. Compass Bank that just one unsolicited phone call was enough to cause a concrete injury. This ruling, along with other recent similar court decisions, has made using the Spokeo defense much more difficult. A copy of the ruling can be accessed here. If you are involved in a TCPA lawsuit, contact a TCPA attorney.

CFPB Sues Debt Settlement Services Provider

On November 8th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint against a telemarketing company that offers debt settlement services. The CFPB accused Freedom Debt Relief, LLC (Freedom) of misleading consumers by making false promises about what their services could achieve for them. For example, Freedom would allegedly promise their customers that they would negotiate with collections companies to settle their debts for much cheaper, when in reality Freedom knew that the collection companies would often be unwilling to engage in any reduced settlement talks. Read a copy of the CFPB's complaint here. Learn about telemarketing rules and telemarketing compliance. Ensure you understand and implement the advice of a telemarketing attorney if before you get on the phones.

Judge Denies TCPA Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Over "Clear and Conspicuous" Opt-In Language.

In Barrera v. Guaranteed Rate Inc., plaintiff Samuel Barrera filed a TCPA lawsuit alleging that the defendant, mortgage company Guaranteed Rate, called his cell phone using an ATDS without the proper consent. Guaranteed Rate filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Barrera had consented to receive such calls when he opted-in online. The Judge denied the motion, holding that the opt-in consent language on the website was not "clear and conspicuous.'' Read a copy of the Judge's decision here. Learn more about telemarketing regulations, robocall laws, and autodialer rules.

FleetOne Settles Class Action Lawsuit Over Unsolicited Faxes

Merchant services company FleetOne has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a class action lawsuit over unsolicited faxes. Plaintiff Swinter Group Inc. alleged that FleetOne did not have the proper consent to send the faxes and that the faxes failed to include the required opt-out language. If your company does any type of fax marketing, be sure to always include the necessary opt-out language. Click here to read more about this settlement. Learn more about telemarketing rules here. There are a variety of rules to be aware of, including: Do-Not-Call rules, Robocall laws, autodialer rules, cell phone telemarketing rules, etc.

Seventh Circuit Issues Ruling that Ties Attorney's Fees to Amount Claimed by Class in TCPA Lawsuit

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling that will bring an end to a TCPA case that's been going on for nearly a decade. In Holtzman v. Turza, Plaintiff Ira Holtzman filed a class action TCPA lawsuit after receiving unsolicited marketing faxes from Gregory P. Turza. The District Court ordered the defendants to pay $500 for each of the 8,430 class members, for a total of $4.2 million. After a few years of appeals and debate over how the attorney's fees should be calculated, the ruling this week has determined that $167 will be paid to the plaintiff's lawyers for every settlement check that is cashed.  A copy of the court's ruling is available here. Contact a TCPA lawyer here.

WebRecon 2017 Stats

WebRecon, a company that compiles data about lawsuits all across the country, has released some intriguing statistics about TCPA lawsuits this year. Surprisingly, total TCPA lawsuits during 2017 are not on pace to pass last year's total. This would be the first year since WebRecon started keeping statistics that there would be a decline. The cause for this decline is unknown at this point. Click here to view the numbers. If you are facing a TCPA lawsuit, contact a TCPA Attorney. Watch this short video about how to respond to a TCPA lawsuit.

CGB Seeks Comment on Federal Housing Finance Agency TCPA Petition

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) is seeking comments on a TCPA petition filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). As explained in the press release, FHFA states that "When a borrower provides a phone number [to a mortgage holder], they anticipate receiving communications that affect their mortgage and, in the case of a disaster, notice that their payment obligation is suspended, that they should be aware of potential fraud scams, that they may qualify for a mortgage loan modification or other relevant matters provided by a reputable service provider.” FHFA is asking the Commission to clarify that calls made by mortgage holders to borrowers in disaster-affected areas fit “within the scope of consent” under the TCPA. Click here for instructions on how to comment on this petition, and click here to access a copy of the petition. To learn more about the TCPA, contact a TCPA attorney.

Thanksgiving No-Call States

Remember that the following states prohibit telephone solicitations on Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd):

• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Louisiana
• Rhode Island
• Utah

Be aware that the above states also prohibit calls on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Learn more about do-not-call regulations and cell phone do-not-call laws. In addition to the holiday no-call rules, there are a variety of other telemarketing rules that you should understand before starting any telemarketing campaign.

CFPB Director to Resign

 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Richard Cordray has announced that he'll be resigning. Cordray and the CFPB as a whole have often been criticized by Republicans for implementing polices and regulations that hurt both businesses and consumers. Trump will likely name Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, one of Cordray's most vocal critics, as the interim director. Mulvaney will try to roll back enforcement and regulation actions in an effort to benefit banks and other financial service organizations. Read more about this news here.

FCC Adopts Rules to Allow Phone Companies to Block Illegal Robocalls

Today the FCC announced new rules that will allow phone companies to proactively block calls that are likely illegal robocalls. Examples include calls from phone numbers with area codes that do not exist, calls with spoofed caller ID information, and calls from government numbers that are known to not make any outbound calls. Click here to read the FCC's press release about this new rule.

It is important for legitimate businesses that choose to market using prerecorded voice messages to avoid being blacklisted by phone companies under these new rules. Best practices include only displaying accurate caller ID information, only making calls with the proper consent, always honoring opt-out requests immediately, and reducing consumer complaints by obeying all other telemarketing rules. If you need help understanding telemarketing compliance, contact a telemarketing attorney. A telemarketing attorney can help you understand do-not-call laws, robocall laws, autodialer laws, cell phone telemarketing rules, telemarketing licenses, telemarketing bonds, etc.

Solar Lead Generation Company Settles with FTC

A solar lead gen company has settled charges with the FTC after they allegedly violated the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. The specific allegations were as follows: 1) calling consumers whose numbers are on the DNC Registry; 2) continuing to call consumers who had previously asked not to be called; 3) failing to transmit accurate caller ID information; and 4) making illegal robocalls (Learn more about robocall laws). The settlement permanently bans the defendants from all telemarketing, and requires a payment of $155,000.  Read more about the charges and the settlement here. Learn all about telemarketing compliance so that you can avoid telemarketing fines.

Mississippi Launches No-Call App

As we've mentioned in recent newsletters, the State of Mississippi has been working on an app to allow residents of the state to more easily report unwanted telephone solicitations. It was made available for download as of November 1st. The app allows consumers to register for the state's Do-Not-Call list and file official complaints immediately from their mobile phones. Read more about the newly launched app here. Direct marketing businesses making calls into Mississippi should keep this news in mind and immediately try to resolve all consumer complaints before they escalate.  Learn more about Do-not-call regulations and other telemarketing rules.

Healthcare Marketer Reaches TCPA Class Action Settlement 

Healthcare marketing company Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Inc. has agreed to a $1.2 million settlement for allegedly making automated calls without the proper consent of the call recipients. Inventurus offers various healthcare related services such as making payment-reminder calls to patients. Inventurus denies the allegations, but they've chosen to settle to avoid additional legal expenses. Read more about the settlement here. Contact a TCPA defense lawyer if you find yourself facing a class action like this. Learn more about Autodialer laws.