$3.7M Settlement Resolves BMW Fax Ads Class Action Lawsuit

A number of BMW units have agreed to a $3.7 million settlement to end claims that they sent unsolicited financial services fax advertisements to car dealers. 

The $3,765,000 will be put into a settlement fund, out of which $145 payments will be made to Class Members who make valid claims that they received the unsolicited faxes from BMW.

In addition, $15,000 will go to Class representative City Select Auto Sales Inc., $1.25 million will go to attorneys’ fees, and up to $80,000 will be paid as costs to Class counsel.

The settlement deal has yet to be approved, but a brief in support of it argued that “the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and it avoids both risks and delay in offering money to the settlement class now, rather than later.”

The BMW spam faxes class action lawsuit was filed in July 2013 by City Select.

Allegedly, BMW Bank of North America and BMW Financial Services had entered into a contract with Creditsmarts Corporation in 2012, which would enable BMW to offer car loans to borrowers through the Creditsmarts system at participating independent car dealers.

According to City Select, a Creditsmarts employee sent thousands of unsolicited faxes to independent BMW dealers, attempting to solicit them to use Creditsmarts’ services.

Reportedly, 5,480 advertisements were sent on Nov. 29; 5,107 were sent on Dec. 4; and 10,402 were sent on Dec. 27.

Allegedly, Creditsmarts’ action of sending these faxes violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits businesses from sending phone calls, texts, and faxes that advertise their products and services without gaining the recipient’s consent.

City Select claimed that Creditsmarts gained the list of car dealerships from a Creditsmarts customer database. Based on this assertion, City Select moved to have the database in question produced, but a magistrate judge denied the request.

Then, the district court denied City Select’s motion to certify a Class for the BMW spam faxes class action lawsuit.

According to the court, the proposed Class was not able to be ascertained if it was viable because there was not an effective way to determine if proposed Class Members actually fell within the standards of the proposed Class.

City Select proposed a Class of all people in the United States who received unsolicited faxes from Creditsmarts between Sept. 1, 2012 and Jan. 1, 2013.

City Select then appealed this denial. In August 2017, the Third Circuit determined that proposed Class Members could be identified via database records and affidavits.

After City Select filed its second attempt at certification in November 2017, settlement talks began between the car dealers and the BMW units.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

City Select Auto Sales Inc. is represented by Phillip A. Bock and Jonathan B. Piper of Bock Hatch Lewis & Oppenheim LLC and Alan C. Milstein of Sherman Silverstein Kohl Rose & Podolksy PA.

The BMW Spam Faxes Class Action Lawsuit is City Select Auto Sales Inc. v. BMW Bank of North America Inc., et al., Case No. 1:13-cv-04595, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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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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