Plaintiff Sues over Robocalls From Wells Fargo

A plaintiff says he received robocalls from Wells Fargo in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, also known as the TCPA.

Plaintiff Kevin R. is a resident of Woodland Hills, Calif. As a customer of defendant Wells Fargo, he purportedly had a debt to pay. The lawsuit states that what was due was debt from the transaction of property or money was acquired on credit from Wells Fargo.

According to the lawsuit, however, the plaintiff had used a particular cell phone number in which Wells Fargo had access to. Using that number, Wells Fargo allegedly “placed calls to plaintiff’s number in an attempt to collect a debt.”

Kevin alleged these robocalls from Wells Fargo were placed using an ATDS, also known as an automatic telephone dialing system. They may have also used an artificial or prerecorded voice. Kevin contends that upon answering the telephone calls he heard the “prerecorded message before defendant’s automated system attempted to connect him with a live agent.”

In a telephone call made by Kevin in March 2017, he says he requested that these telephone calls stop. Wells Fargo allegedly ignored the plaintiff’s request, and the robocalls from Wells Fargo kept coming.

The Wells Fargo robocalls lawsuit states that the “defendant’s call directly and substantially interfered with plaintiff’s right to peacefully enjoy a service that plaintiff paid for and caused plaintiff to suffer a significant amount of anxiety, frustration, and annoyance.”

Kevin raises the following claims against Wells Fargo: 1) Violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and 2) Violations of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The plaintiff demands a trial by jury.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act Facts

According to the Federal Communications Commission, the TCPA restricts telemarketing calls and the use of an ATDS and artificial or prerecorded voice messages. Congress enacted the TCPA in 1991 in an effort to curtail the increasing number of telemarketing calls.

The Commission, in 1992, had also created rules to implement the TCPA, including “the requirement that entities making telephone solicitations institute procedures for maintaining company-specific-do-not-call lists.”

In 2012, the FCC revised its TCPA rules. Some of these rules include the following: 1) that telemarketers must obtain prior written consent from consumers before making initiating any robocalls; 2) telemarketers are no longer allowed to make contact with a consumer solely based on an “established business relationship” and must obtain consent before hand; 3) telemarketers must provide an opt-out mechanism for consumers who are dialed with robocalls to be able to tell the telemarketer to stop calling.

The National Do-Not-Call registry was also established by the FCC in 2003, under the authority provided in the TCPA.

According to the FCC, “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 Robocalls From Wells Fargo Lawsuit is Case No. 5:17-cv-02001-DMG-SHK, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.

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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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