Compass Bank to Pay $1.5 Million to Settle Unwanted Telephone Calls Lawsuit

Compass Bank will pay a $1.5 million settlement after being accused of making unwanted telephone calls to people who were not customers.

U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon granted final approval to the settlement to resolve a putative class action lawsuit that alleged Compass Bank and marketing company MSR Group LLC violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

The calls were regarding surveys and were made using a VOXCO predictive dialer. People who said they were not Compass Bank customers and never consented to such calls were reached by the dialing system between Dec. 14, 2012 and Feb. 8, 2019.

Settlement details include $383,000 in lawyer fees and $34,000 in costs. Named plaintiff Robert Hossfeld will receive a $15,000 incentive award. He filed the lawsuit in December 2016, alleging he received two unwanted calls to his cell phone within a six-month span. Hossfeld was not a Compass Bank customer, and he alleged the calls were a nuisance and an invasion of privacy that wasted his time and used up his cell phone’s battery power.

Compass Bank, a subsidiary of BBVA Compass Bancshares Inc., tried to get the case dismissed in November 2017. At that time, Compass said the two unwanted telephone calls didn’t cause any real harm to Hossfeld. U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins refused to dismiss the case, however, saying that the TCPA clarified that the simple act of calling someone or texting someone who does not wish to be reached invades their personal privacy.

TCPA Cracks Down on Unwanted Telephone Calls

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has revised the TCPA several times since its creation in order to keep up with advancing technology that can invade a person’s privacy.

In 1991, Congress enacted the TCPA to place certain restrictions on telemarketers. In 1992, the FCC included a requirement that anyone making telephone solicitations had to establish procedures for maintaining a company-specific do-not-call list.

In 2012, the FCC established new rules, including the fact that a business could not use the excuse that it had an “established business relationship” with a consumer as any type of implied consent to call them. Businesses were no longer allowed to robocall consumers without receiving prior express written consent to do so. In addition, telemarketers were required to provide an opt-out mechanism so that a consumer could immediately inform the telemarketer to quit calling.

The FCC established the National Do-Not-Call list in 2003, which is available for both land lines and cell phone numbers. Once a phone number is registered, it stays on the National Do-Not-Call list until you cancel the registration or you discontinue service.

According to TCPA regulations, every call that violates TCPA may result in statutory damages of $500. In the event the calls were made with knowing and willful intent, the statutory damages increase to $1,500 per violating phone call.  Millions have been paid in settlements for abuse of TCPA protections.

The Unwanted Telephone Calls Lawsuit is Robert Hossfeld v. Compass Bank et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-02017, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

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.