Peddle Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Telemarketing Text Messages

A California woman accuses auto salvage company Peddle of sending out unsolicited marketing text messages in violation of federal law.

According to plaintiff Eva Hulsey, defendant Peddle LLC has been using automatic dialing equipment to send mass-marketing text messages to consumers without first getting their consent to receive such messages.

Peddle has also been unlawfully initiating contact to phone numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, Hulsey claims.

Peddle is a company that purchases junk cars, according to Hulsey’s unwanted text message class action lawsuit. Car owners can contact Peddle online to request an estimate for the cost of having their junk cars picked up or listing them for sale.

Hulsey says that in January 2017, she received an unsolicited text message from Peddle, offering to pick up her car or to list it for sale. She says she texted back, trying to find out who the unwanted messages were coming from. But Peddle only texted back to her with continued attempts to get her to sell her car, she claims.

These Peddle unsolicited text messages allegedly came several months after Hulsey listed her phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry. Hulsey says she never consented to receive text messages from Peddle.

Hulsey’s claims against Peddle fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law designed to curb unsolicited telemarketing.

Generally, the TCPA prohibits businesses from using automatic dialing equipment or a prerecorded announcement to send unsolicited phone communications, unless the recipient has given prior express written consent to be contacted that way.

The TCPA also called for establishment of the National Do Not Call Registry. Consumers can list their phone numbers with the registry to indicate that they do not want to receive unwanted telemarketing communications.

Originally passed in 1991 to restrict contacts made to land lines and fax machines, the TCPA has since been updated to control calls and SMS test messages sent to mobile phones.

To enforce these provisions, the TCPA allows affected persons to bring a civil TCPA lawsuit. If successful, plaintiffs like Hulsey and her proposed Class Members may be entitled to statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 for each phone call or unwanted text message that violates the TCPA.

Hulsey proposes to represent two separate plaintiff Classes. The “Text Message No Consent Class” would include all U.S. persons to whom Peddle sent text messages within four years preceding the filing of this action and from whom Peddle claims to have received prior express written consent.

The second proposed Class, the “DNC No Consent Class,” would cover all persons in the U.S. who received more than one text message promoting Peddle’s products or services after the recipient had listed their mobile phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 30 days, and from whom Peddle claims to have received prior express written consent.

She is asking the court to award the greater of actual losses or statutory damages under the TCPA, disgorgement of revenues gained via the allegedly unlawful text message campaign, and reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees. She is also seeking an injunction barring Peddle from continuing to engage in any further telemarketing until it can ensure that such telemarketing is TCPA-compliant.

Hulsey is represented by attorneys Peter J. Gimino III of The Gimino Law Office APC and by Steven L. Woodrow and Patrick H. Peluso of Woodrow & Peluso LLC.

The Peddle Unsolicited Text Message Class Action Lawsuit is Eva Hulsey v. Peddle LLC, Case No. 2:17-cv-03843, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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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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