debt collection

USCB to Pay $2.7 Million to Settle TCPA Class Action Lawsuit

January 30, 2015 On January 26, 2015, a judge for the Central District of California entered an order preliminarily approving a $2.7 million settlement to resolve a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action lawsuit against USCB, Inc. (“USCB”).  The Order comes after the Court initially rejected the parties’ first settlement agreement.  Following further briefing […]

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Express Consent on TCPA Debt Collection Calls

A recent federal district court ruling provides more guidance on how courts define “express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) in the debt collection setting.  In Sharp v. Allied Interstate Inc., the court relied on earlier Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rulings that had found that prior express consent had been provided by consumers

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TCPA Debt Collection Calls Can Only Be Placed to Cell Phone Subscribers

On March 28, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that debt collection calls can only be placed to the subscriber of the cellular telephone being called under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).  Specifically, section 227(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the TCPA states, in part, that it shall be unlawful to make

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Making TCPA Debt Collection Calls or Texts? Think Twice

Many of our readers are generally aware of the restrictions placed on telemarketing calls by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).  Specifically, the TCPA prohibits marketing phone calls and texts that are made using automated dialing equipment or that contain artificial voices and/or pre-recorded messages.  Some readers may also be aware of the fact that

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Debt Collection Text Messages Must Comply with the Law

For the first time in its history, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently initiated an action against a debt collector for its allegedly unlawful use of debt collection text messages.  Almost a month after filing its complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the FTC settled with the debt

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Debt Collection Agency Hit with $3.2 Million Penalty

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced yesterday that the debt collection agency Expert Global Solutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “EGSI”) will pay $3.2 million to settle an action commenced by the FTC only two days ago.  The FTC reports that the settlement is the largest it has ever obtained. The FTC’s Complaint On July

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