Court Rules AMEX Is Liable For Third-Party TCPA Violations

An Illinois federal court recently denied American Express’ (AMEX) motion for partial summary judgment, finding that AMEX can be directly liable under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for debt collection and telemarketing calls made on its behalf. The court’s decision allows the TCPA lawsuit to move forward.

The TCPA class action lawsuit alleges that AMEX contractors Asset Management and Alorica Inc. made improper debt collection and telemarketing calls to plaintiffs Jennifer O., Scott D., and Joetta C.

Jennifer filed the American Express TCPA class action lawsuit in July 2013, claiming that AMEX used an automatic telephone dialing system to place unwanted phone calls to her cell phone many times over a four-year period – even though she was not the debtor that AMEX was seeking to reach. Joetta alleges that AMEX violated the TCPA by having West Asset Management and Alorica make debt collection calls to her cellphone that were intended for her deceased mother. Scott claims that he also received unsolicited phone calls from West Asset Management in June 2013.

The Illinois court held that it is irrelevant whether AMEX or the third-party vendors West Asset Management and Alorica made the calls. AMEX, as the primary creditor, can still be liable for debt collection calls made on its behalf. Plaintiffs are still conducting discovery over the role American Express played in making the robocalls.

The plaintiffs propose a national Class of non-AMEX customers who received debt collection calls from an automatic telephone dialing system and/or telemarketing calls from AMEX, Alorica or West Asset Management after July 2009. The recent decision means that AMEX may have to defend against these TCPA class action lawsuit claims for actions taken by a third party.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act: Rules To Protect Consumers

The TCPA is designed to protect consumers from receiving calls placed from an automatic telephone dialing system or pre-recorded messages on their cell phone unless the consumer has provided their prior express consent (it also covers text message spam). The most common violators of the TCPA are debt collectors, banks and telemarketers.

Under the TCPA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established rules addressing robocalls, or unsolicited phone calls by telemarketers and debt collectors, in 1991. The Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls Guide on the FCC website lists three rules all telemarketers and debt collectors must follow:

• Anyone making a telephone solicitation call must provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which that person or entity can be contacted.
• Telephone solicitation calls are prohibited before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Telemarketers must comply immediately with any do-not-call request you make during a solicitation call.

TCPA Lawsuits

Many people are under the false impression that TCPA laws do not apply to debt collectors, but the FCC clarified in 2008 that debt collectors do indeed fall under the TCPA statute. After the clarification, many plaintiffs have filed TCPA lawsuits in order to protect consumer rights against debt collection companies. If you received an unsolicited phone call or text message spam you may be entitled to $500 up to $1,500 per call or text.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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