With its decision in Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC still leaving a bad taste in the collection industry’s mouth, the Eleventh Circuit has provided some solace to the financial services industry with its decision in Mais v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc., No. 13-14008 (11th Cir. Sept. 29, 2014). The key holding was the reversal of the district court’s interpretation of “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Plaintiff sued the medical service provider and its debt collection agent for making autodialed or prerecorded calls to his cellular telephone in violation of the TCPA. His wife had given his cellular telephone…
Posts published in September 2014
Following on the heels of a June 30 decision finding that a New Jersey law firm violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because its attorneys spent four seconds reviewing a pleading, a complaint seeking class certification has been filed against the same firm, citing findings of fact from the adverse court opinion. The complaint, filed in New Jersey state court last month, was removed to the federal District of New Jersey last week. The complaint is available here. The complaint focuses on a May 2014 settlement letter, which it alleges was not prepared by attorneys and was sent before an “attorney exercised professional judgment by…