Cell Phone Spam Calls Lawsuit Might Not Settle for $4 Million

A federal judge isn’t sure a $4 million settlement is a “fair and reasonable” amount to award consumers who have been victims of cell phone spam calls from an auto loan company.

Flagship Credit Acceptance, the loan company headquartered in Chadds Ford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, has agreed to the $4 million payout to settle allegations that the company illegally called hundreds of thousands of consumers. The class action lawsuit alleges Flagship was in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that prohibits robocalling consumers with automatic dialing systems without first receiving a customer’s permission.

Robert Ward of Georgia filed the class action lawsuit in 2017, alleging he was inundated with spam voicemail from Flagship even though he had never been a customer of the auto loan business.  When Flagship called, the company requested to speak with a “Charles Walker.” Ward told Flagship that he was not Charles Walker and did not know anyone by that name. According to court records, Flagship continued to call Ward anyway, between five and ten times.

Court records indicate Flagship says it received consent from customers before making the calls and that the dialing program it uses does not qualify as an “autodialer” as written in TCPA regulations.

Businesses that violate TCPA can be ordered to pay $500 per violation. If the violation is proven willful, courts can triple that amount to $1500 per violation.

The FCC says it issues hundreds of millions of dollars in enforcement action against illegal robocallers, including those that “spoof” other phone numbers. A spoofed number will appear as a local call within your area code even if the call might originate from another country.

Proposed Settlement Over Cell Phone Spam Calls

According to court filings, Ward’s attorneys would receive a third of the $4 million settlement, which would amount to about $1.3 million. U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson expressed concern that the lawyers’ fees were going to take too much of the recovery, leaving too little for class members to share.

Because more than 20 percent of the eligible class members submitted claims, the average payout would be around $35 per class member.

Attorneys for Ward expressed the amount they are seeking is similar to fees provided to lawyers in other class action settlements.

Judge Baylson decided he wanted another set of eyes to go over the details of the settlement before he makes a decision. On July 22, he appointed former Supreme Court Justice Jane Cutler Greenspan to pore over the settlement.

Greenspan will be paid $600 per hour to review the settlement, which is money that also will be paid from the settlement fund if Judge Baylson approves it.

Court filings indicate that if the class action lawsuit went to court resulting in a loss for Flagship, the company could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, potentially bankrupting it. A company with no money has nothing to give plaintiffs who are victims of cell phone spam calls, expressed one of Ward’s lawyers.

On July 18 of this year, Flagship announced the company hired a new chief executive officer and member of its board of directors.

In a press release about accepting the position, Hurzeler said, “It is truly an honor to join Flagship’s team. Flagship has grown with a strong trajectory creating a sustainable $2.9 billion serviced portfolio…”

The Cell Phone Spam Calls Lawsuit is Ward v. Flagship Credit Acceptance LLC, Case No. 2:17-cv-02069, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.