Payday Lenders’ $8M TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Gets Approval

A federal judge in Nevada issued a preliminary approval of a proposed settlement for $8 million in a TCPA class action lawsuit.

The proposed settlement is set to resolve allegations that several payday lenders contacted consumers on their cell phones in an attempt to pursue borrowers in default on payday loans.

The plaintiffs in the TCPA class action lawsuit allege that Clark County Service LLC, Dollar Loan Center LLC and DLC Empire LLC called up to 18,000 consumers after they were listed on credit applications as “references” for others.

The unsolicited cellphone calls were allegedly placed between Sept. 20, 2009 and Sept. 20, 2013.

“The court preliminarily approves the settlement agreement as fair, reasonable and adequate to the settlement class, as falling within the range of possible final approval, and as meriting notice of the settlement to persons in the settlement class for their consideration and a hearing on the approval of the settlement,” U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson stated in the preliminary approval order.

Payday Lenders TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Allegations

The TCPA class action lawsuit was initially filed in 2013 by plaintiff Ronald Grider. Grider alleged the companies violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by placing unsolicited cell phone calls to individuals.

The plaintiff alleged the calls were placed using an automatic telephone dialing system (robocall) and the call recipients had not given their express prior consent for the calls they considered cell phone spam.

Grider also claimed the companies violated the Nevada Trade Practices Act for allegedly knowingly making a false representation in a transaction.

The complaint stated that the payday lenders ask for “references” from borrowers but do so under false pretenses. These references are ultimately used to aid in collection efforts by the payday lenders, according to the claim.

Grider claims he was a recipient of a number of unsolicited cellphone calls by the payday lenders as one such reference. Grider states that the cell phone spam calls were placed to him from May 2013 through June 2013 by an agent calling on behalf of DLC Empire attempting to collect the debt a friend owed the company.

In December, the parties filed a motion for preliminary approval for the proposed settlement amount as well as for class certification. The settlement was reached following mediation conducted by a current and former federal magistrate judge.

Originally, Pasquail Bates was listed as the lead plaintiff in the TCPA class action lawsuit against the payday lenders which previously included Cash 1 and Check City Partnership LLC.

In November, Federal Magistrate Judge Carl W. Hoffman issued approval on an amendment of the case caption and title that reflected Grider’s involvement as the remaining plaintiff and the dismissal of the other defendants.

Settlement Class members will be able to receive pro rata awards of $200 up to $1500 for unsolicited cellphone calls, according to the motion proposed in December. Following settlement approval, the claims would be dismissed against the defendants in the TCPA class action lawsuit.

Judge Dawson issued conditional certification for the settlement class and approved class counsel as well as the settlement administrator. The final approval hearing will take place on February 21, 2017.

The Payday Lenders TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Ronald Grider et al. v. Clark County Collection Service LLC et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-01731, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

UPDATE: The Clark County Collection Service TCPA class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!

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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