TCPA Class Action Says Auto Shop Sent Spam Text Messages

A recent TCPA class action lawsuit claims that a Florida auto detailing company violated federal law with spam text messages.

Plaintiff Shlomy Halawani argues that South Florida Detail Garage 1 LLC sent unsolicited text messages to him and other consumers. The texts allegedly advertised the company’s products and services in an attempt to attract new customers.

Halawani allegedly started to receive the spam text messages to his cell phone in July 2019. The text messages allegedly advertised South Florida Detail Garage’s goods and services. According to an example shown in the TCPA class action, the company advertised their “Rides & Coffee” event, encouraging Halawani to spend $50 to receive 4 raffle tickets or $100 to receive 8 raffle tickets.

Halawani allegedly never gave South Florida Detail Garage permission to send him unsolicited text messages. In fact, Halawani’s cell phone number has allegedly been on the National Do Not Call Registry since February 2018.

The National Do Not Call Registry is a nationwide list of numbers which have explicitly stated that they do not want to be contacted with telemarketing communications such as text messages or phone calls. Because Halawani’s phone number is reportedly on this registry, South Florida Detail Garage contacting him with telemarketing text messages is allegedly unlawful.

According to Halawani’s class action, South Florida Detail Garage sent text messages en masse to countless other consumers. Halawani points to the “long code” used to send the text messages, a fake number made to look like a real telephone operator. In fact, these numbers are reportedly used by SMS gateway providers to help send text messages to a large list of numbers all at once.

“Defendant caused thousands of unsolicited text messages to be sent to the cellular telephones of Plaintiff and Class Members, causing them injuries, including invasion of their privacy, aggravation, annoyance, intrusion on seclusion, trespass, and conversion,” the text message class action claims.

Laws Against Spam Text Messages

Halawani brought his claims under a federal law known as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). TCPA was passed by Congress in 1991 in order to protect consumers from harassing telemarketing communications such as robocalls.

Since its initial passing in the 1990s, TCPA has been expanded to keep up with developing technology. For example, statutes protecting against spam texts and junk faxes are now included in the federal law as those means became more common for telemarketers.

In 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) beefed up TCPA when it added new rules to limit the situations where telemarketing calls are allowed. Under the rule change, businesses were only allowed to place telemarketing calls to consumers if they had prior express written consent and included an opt out mechanism in their calls.

The rule change also made it so businesses could no longer justify their calls based on an established business relationship, effectively eliminating a large loophole.

The TCPA Spam Text Messages Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 0:19-cv-62420-KMW, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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