Two Florida Car Dealerships Settled TCPA Class Actions in 2019

This year, consumers who received unwanted calls and text messages from two Sunshine State car dealerships became eligible for settlements resulting from TCPA class action lawsuits.

Schumacher Automotive and Grieco Ford both agreed to settle TCPA class actions filed against them.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law that prohibits businesses from sending telemarketing calls, texts, and voicemails to individuals without their consent. Unfortunately, many car dealers, and others, may disregard these laws in an effort to reach consumers.

The automotive industry has been the subject of numerous consumer complaints about spam calls and text messages. Car dealerships often use autodialers to distribute mass messaging, in possible violation of the TPCA.

They may rely on telemarketing to advertise deals, sales, and inventory. And they may send text messages or voicemails to prospective consumers in an attempt to entice them into making a purchase. Sometimes these messages are sent en masse, while others may be disguised as more personal communications aimed at just one individual.

These messages may be bothersome, and are often a frequent occurrence. If you receive them, and you did not consent to be contacted by a car dealership or other business, you could be entitled to benefits from a TCPA class action lawsuit or settlement. This year, the Class Members in the two Florida car dealership class action cases benefited from these suits.

In one instance, Greico Ford of Fort Lauderdale agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle claims that the company engaged in “illegal conduct…[including] the invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation, and disruption of the daily life of thousands of individuals,” according to Automotive News.

In a separate auto dealer TCPA suit, Schumacher Automotive of Florida agreed to a $5 million settlement. Class Members in that case included individuals who received a text from Schumacher between July 11, 2014, and February 20, 2019, and did not give consent to receive such messages. Each Class Member was eligible to receive $180. The deadline to file a claim in the Schumacher TCPA class action was July 15, 2019.

The Class Members claimed that Schumacher Automotive should have obtained prior written consent to send messages to customers. Allegedly, the company’s failure to do so violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Neither Schumacher Automotive nor Greico Ford of Fort Lauderdale admitted wrongdoing in either lawsuit, but both agreed to settle with consumers in an effort to avoid the costs and risks of continuing litigation.

Class Members in the Schumacher TCPA class action lawsuit are represented by Scott Edelsberg of Edelsberg Law PA, Andrew J. Shamis of Shamis and Gentile PA, and Manuel S. Hiraldo of Hiraldo PA.

The Schumacher TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Eisenband v. Schumacher Automotive Inc., Case No. 9:18-cv-80911, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Join a Free Car Dealership TCPA Violations Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

You may be eligible to join this lawsuit investigation into car dealership TCPA violations under the following circumstances:

• You did NOT provide express permission in writing to the car dealership to receive the calls or messages.
  You did NOT purchase a vehicle from the dealership that is contacting you.

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