Citizens Bank Settles Robocall Class Action Lawsuit for $4.5M

Citizen’s Bank recently settled a robocall class action lawsuit with over 1 million members for $4.55 million.

The class members claim that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was violated by the bank when it used a robocall system to call consumer’s phones without their permission .

The $4.55 million dollars from the robocall class action lawsuit will be divided up proportionately between potentially over 1 million members. These class members claim their cell phones were dialed by Citizen’s Bank when the bank attempted to collect a debt.

This fund will also cover litigation fees and up to one quarter of the settlement will go toward attorney’s fees.

Robocall Class Action Lawsuit Class Members Identified

As well as approving the settlement, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant also named a nationwide class of anyone who received a call from either Citizen’s or another company calling on behalf of Citizen’s Bank between 2009 and 2015. These calls were made using a robocall system, or an automated dialing system.

The bank and other third-party vendors provided lists of outgoing phone calls and potential class members were identified from those lists. These potential class members will have 90 days to submit a claim from the date they were notified.

Depending upon the number of potential class members who submit a claim, the payout amount will vary. If 1 percent of the class members submits a claim, each claimant would receive about $280. The judge noted that this is far less than the $500 statutory penalty that the TCPA provides in such cases.

However, the judge deemed this to be a fair in order to eliminate the risks involved in litigation.

In her robocall class action lawsuit, the plaintiff, Linda Sanders, said that Citizens Bank or a company hired by Citizen’s Bank called her numerous times, sometimes several times a week. All calls that she received were made by a robocall system, she alleges.

In February, the judge ordered Citizen’s Bank to identify third-party companies who allegedly made calls on behalf of the bank. And then in April, all parties involved entered mediation conversations.

Judge Bashart wrote that Sanders’ proposed class was legitimate given that a large majority of those who were called were able to be identified. She said, “The class was also numerous, their issue common and their representative adequate.”

She suggested that in this robocall class action lawsuit, the biggest issues is that Citizen’s Bank allegedly violated the TCPA because they used an automated telephone dialing system.

A possible problem in lawsuits like this is that individualized inquiries may need to be made in the case of each potential class member as to whether or not consent for a call was given. However, Citizen’s Bank chose to take potential robocall class action lawsuit members at their word.

Per the recent settlement order, potential class members will receive a notification by mail and a notice will be taken out in 2 nationwide publications as well.

The Citizens Bank Robocall Class Action Lawsuit is Linda Sanders v. RBS Citizens NA, Case No. 3:13-cv-03136, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: The Citizens Bank TCPA class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!

UPDATE 2: On April 23, 2017, Top Class Actions viewers who filed a claim for the Citizens Bank TCPA class action settlement started receiving checks in the mail worth as much as $62.40! 

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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