Wells Fargo Phone Calls Lead Illinois Man to Raise TCPA Claims

A man is filing a Wells Fargo phone calls lawsuit against the financial giant accusing the company of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Plaintiff Michael T. is filing the Wells Fargo phone calls lawsuit in Illinois federal court demanding a jury trial. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 8, 2018.

According to the Wells Fargo phone calls lawsuit, Michael is a resident of the city of Wheaton, County of DuPage, Ill. He says, however, that sometime in December 2017 he began receiving a high volume of calls by Wells Fargo to his cellular phone.

He alleges that when he would pick up the line he would also hear a brief pause that was followed by a clicking sound, and then a representative would come on the line: all indicative of an automated telephone dialing system.

That same month, Michael says that he spoke to a representative and asked them to stop placing calls to his cellular phone. Although the representative allegedly attempted to explain that he would only collecting on a past due amount, Michael says he emphasized that he didn’t believe that he was past due on anything.

He later says that he sent in a letter to Wells Fargo again asking for the communications to stop. However, despite his complaints, Wells Fargo allegedly placed 294 telephone calls to his cellular phone between December 2017 and April 2018.

Some of the damages Michael says he suffered include:

• Invasion of privacy
• Wasting of his time
• Risk of personal injury due to distraction/interruption
• Depletion of cellular phone battery
• Cost of electricity to recharge cellular phone battery
• Significant stress, aggravation, mental anguish, and emotional distress

The Wells Fargo phone calls lawsuit was filed on a count of violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Overview: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The TCPA, or Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted by Congress to protect consumers from the growing number of telephone marketing calls in 1991. It was enacted to specifically prevent companies like Wells Fargo from invading consumer privacy and to prevent abusive “robocalls” from being made.

The Act helps regulate unsolicited faxes, text messages, telemarketing calls, auto-dialed calls, and prerecorded calls. Some of the rules and regulations telemarketers are bound to abide by include some of the following:

• Receive a consumer’s prior written consent before making any robocalls.
• Provide an automated and interactive “opt-out” mechanism during robocalls for consumers to let telemarketers know that they would no longer like to be called.
• No longer let an “established business relationship” be sufficient and that through TCPA regulations, a prior expressed written consent is required.

The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) also established in 2003 and in coordination with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a national Do-Not-Call registry. The Registry went into effect on Oct. 1, 2003.

“The national registry is nationwide in scope, covers all telemarketers (with the exception of certain nonprofit organizations), and applies to both interstate and intrastate calls,” the FCC states.

The Wells Fargo Phone Calls Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-05398, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

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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