$7M Target TCPA Class Action Settlement Gets Final Approval

A $7.05 million settlement has been given final approval, ending claims that Target violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by calling people without their consent using an automatic dialer.

Under the terms of the $7 million Target debt collection class action settlement, $1.9 million will be allocated for attorneys’ fees.

Class representative Israel Garcia, who filed the Target class action lawsuit will receive an incentive award of $10,000. The rest will be distributed amongst around 240,000 Class Members, who will each receive $70.

Class Members include those people in the United States who received debt collection calls between March 27, 2012 and May 15, 2018. The calls received must have been sent for non-emergency reasons and the recipients must not have consented to receive the calls.

The settlement was approved by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis, who determined it to be fair and reasonable.

The judge also noted that the Class had a positive reaction to the settlement with no Class Members objections. Of the 240,000 Class Members, only 24 people opted out of the settlement deal, which the judge took as a sign of overall positive reaction to the settlement.

The settlement was struck in January 2019 during a conference.

The Target TCPA class action lawsuit was filed by Garcia in 2016. He claimed that the company called him more than 60 times in regards to an alleged debt. However, Garcia says that he did not have a credit card account with Target, and had not consented to receive the calls.

The Target debt collection class action lawsuit went on to say that Target made similar calls to other individuals, calling many numbers at once using predictive dialing devices. Allegedly, this violated the TCPA both because the call were placed without the recipients’ consent, and because the calls were placed using autodialers, both of which are prohibited by the TCPA.

Target made an attempt to fight the claims, saying that the system used by Target or Target’s associates to place debt collection calls was not an automatic dialer. Instead, said Target, the company could rely on the consent given by individuals to determine who could be called.

Target recently settled a separate class action lawsuit over its store cards. Consumers had claimed that Target fraudulently marketed store debit cards. Target ended these claims in an $8.2 million settlement last month.

Have you received debt collection calls without giving your consent to be contacted? Tell us about it in the comments below.

The Class Members are represented by Myles McGuire, Evan M. Meyers and Eugene Y. Turin of McGuire Law PC, Daniel M. Hutchinson of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Robert K. Shelquist of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, Aaron Siri of Siri Gilmstad LLP and Jarrett L. Ellzey of Hughes Ellzey LLP.

The Target Debt Collection TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Israel Garcia v. Target Corporation, Case No. 0:16-cv-02574, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

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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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