Robocalls Are Cause of Action in Arizona TCPA Lawsuit

An Arizona woman has filed a TCPA lawsuit against student loan servicer Navient, alleging that they a substantial number of robocalls to her cell phone.

According to plaintiff Jane H.’s complaint, “some or all of the calls” she received from defendant Navient were made with the use of an “automatic telephone dialing system.”

If this allegation is proven to be true, Navient could be in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and could be liable for damages amounting to several thousands of dollars in accordance with the terms of the law.

The Allegations

Jane states that she received approximately 500 calls from Navient, which were attempts to collect a private student loan debt she allegedly carried.

According to the complaint, these calls began in July of 2016 had have continued up until the present. According to Jane’s caller ID records, these calls originated from a number of different numbers across the country. Her belief that the calls originated from an autodialer is based on her return calls to those numbers: she was allegedly greeted by an automated, prerecorded message that said, “Thank you for calling Navient. This call may be monitored and/or recorded for quality purposes.”

Furthermore, Jane says that when she received the calls, there was a long pause, followed by a click when she answered: it was several seconds before an actual, natural human representative would answer.

On at least one occasion, when she complained to an agent, she says she was told that the calls could not be stopped because they originated from an “automated system.”

Over the time period in question, Jane says she explained repeatedly that she was aware of her financial obligation and that the calls were unnecessary. Nonetheless, her requests to Navient to stop the robocalls to her number were ignored, leading to believe that the company’s violations of the TCPA were knowing and willful.

Plaintiff Accuses the Defendant of Recidivism

Jane’s lawsuit further states that Navient has a history of making unauthorized robocalls, and indeed has a “corporate policy to harass and abuse individuals” even when those individuals have made it clear that they do not want telephone contact. Nor, she says, does Navient have any policy in place that would allow someone to have their number removed from their call list.

It appears that, despite being a named defendant in several similar lawsuits pending across the country, Navient shows no signs of changing its behavior and in fact is lobbying the current Administration to be allowed to continue the practice with impunity.

Robocalls and the TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was passed in 1991 under the George H.W. Bush Administration as an amendment to the Federal Communications Act of 1934. Under the law, no company may use certain automated dialing equipment to call a consumer with the latter’s express consent. This particularly applies to robocalls, which are those placed with an automated dialing system and/or employing an artificial or prerecorded voice. Under the terms of the TCPA, violators can be sued for up to $1,500 for each violation, or be held liable for actual losses if that amount is greater.

Jane H.’s Robocalls Lawsuit is Case No. 4:19-cv-00059-CKJ, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona.

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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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