Unwanted Sales Calls from Regal Honda Violated Federal Law, Says Plaintiff

Consumers in Florida are allegedly receiving unwanted sales calls from car dealerships that they claim failed to get express prior consent.

These phone calls or text messages could be violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), spurring legal action from consumers alleging federal privacy violations. One of the most recent TCPA lawsuits was filed by a woman from Florida, who is also seeking to represent an entire Class of people who may have received similar solicitation messages.

Plaintiff Monifa Grant recently filed a TCPA lawsuit alleging she had received unwanted sales calls from Regal Honda. She is also naming the dealership’s parent company Regal Automotive Group Inc. as a defendant in her claim.

Grant opted to file legal action against the company claiming that the actions of the car dealership could have violated federal privacy laws, especially in regards to prior consent.

According to the TCPA lawsuit, Grant received at least one cellphone call from Regal Honda on Oct. 4, 2017 and a prerecorded voice message was left. She says the automated voice message was from a Regal Honda representative named “Ken Halworth” who was the General Manager at the car dealership, who stated she had been approved for a loan up to $40,000 with a 1.9 percent interest rate to buy a car.

There were also several other solicitations on the call, she claims, such as for a smartwatch or two night cruise on a Royal Caribbean cruise line in exchange for visiting the dealership within a few days.

Grant alleges this prerecorded voicemail intruded on her time, an additional inconvenience on top of the alleged privacy violation.

Overview of TCPA

The TCPA was established by Congress in 1991 to help consumers combat aggressive telemarketers.

The TCPA provides a set of rules and provisions that telemarketers and other solicitors have to follow, including calling within reasonable daytime hours and respecting consumers wishes in whether or not they want to keep receiving communications. If a consumer asks the company to stop calling them, the company must add the consumer to their do not call registry and respect their request for up to five years.

In addition, the TCPA also requires companies to get prior express consent from consumers before placing calls, texts, or faxes by using certain automated equipment.

The FCC amended TCPA rules to require telemarketers get prior written express consent from consumers before using an automated dialing system to contact them in 2012, which means that consumers must sign or indicate that they fully consent to receive these communications in some way.

According to the TCPA lawsuit, Grant never gave the car dealership express prior consent before calling her and is seeking damages for all alleged violations of the TCPA.

Furthermore, Grant is also hoping to represent an entire Class of people within the United States who may have received unwanted sales calls from Regal Honda by way of an automated dialing system and leaving prerecorded messages.

While the number of Class Members for the potential consumer class is not known, Grant’s TCPA lawsuit estimates that it could be in the thousands. The damages Monifa and other potential class members could receive range between $500 to $1,500 per violation.

This TCPA Lawsuit is Grant v. Regal Automotive Group Inc., et al., Case No. 8:19-cv-00363-SDM-JSS, in the U.S. District Court of Middle 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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