Ally Financial Cell Phone Lawsuit Seeks Penalty for Robocalls

In an Ally Financial cell phone lawsuit, an Ohio man alleges he was the target of a campaign of harassing debt collection robocalls.

Plaintiff Edmund H. says that in 2014, he started receiving an inordinate number of calls on his cell phone from defendant Ally Financial Inc.

Edmund says he never gave Ally Financial his consent to be contacted in this manner.

On several occasions, Edmund says, he asked Allied Financial’s agent to stop calling him. He says he specifically revoked his consent for them to call him because of the harassing nature of the calls.

Nevertheless, the calls kept coming.

Edmund says Ally Financial sometimes called him twice or three times in one day. With the calls not ceasing, Edmund filed his Ally Financial cell phone lawsuit.

Edmund’s Ally Financial cell phone lawsuit says the constant stream of incoming calls caused him “concrete and particularized injuries and harm.”

Among other harms, he cites invasion of privacy, intrusive use of his cell phone and service, wasting of his time, and “[s]tress, aggravation, frustration, emotional distress and mental anguish.”

Ally Financial Cell Phone Lawsuit Raises TCPA Claims

Edmund’s Ally Financial cell phone lawsuit falls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. This law was passed in 1991 to curb the practice of using automated mechanisms, otherwise known as robocalling, to place massive numbers of telemarketing calls.

The TCPA imposes restrictions on the use of prerecorded messages and automatic dialers. Unless such a call is being made for emergency purposes, callers are expected to get the called party’s prior express consent to be contacted in that manner before making such a call.

Since the TCPA was enacted, amendments by Congress and interpretations by the FCC now apply the TCPA to communications directed at cell phones as well. Both calls and SMS text messaging are now tightly controlled under the act.

Edmund’s description of the phone calls he received suggests that Ally Financial made them using a prerecorded outgoing message and possibly an automated telephone dialing mechanism.

He says that when he answered the calls, he heard a prerecorded voice ask him to hold so he could be connected with a live agent. He would then hear a pause before a live operator picked up and began speaking.

TCPA Damages

The TCPA provides for statutory damage awards large enough to get many callers’ attention.

For each phone call made that constitutes a “negligent” violation of the TCPA, plaintiffs may be able to recover $500 in statutory damages. That amount may be tripled to $1,500 for each violation the plaintiff can show was “knowing” or “willful.”

Plaintiffs may also have the option of pursuing any actual damages they can prove.

Edmund’s TCPA lawsuit raises two claims, one for regular statutory damages and a second claim for treble damages. He is asking the court for an award of actual and statutory damages and reimbursement of his court costs and attorneys’ fees, plus whatever other relief the court sees fit to grant.

The Ally Financial Cell Phone Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-00144 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

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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