On June 8, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California alleging that Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc. ("Wyndham") violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). In the action, the plaintiff alleges that Wyndham "placed multiple calls in a single day to Plaintiff's cellular telephone seeking to collect [on an] alleged debt owed by his wife." The complaint is unclear as to whether the plaintiff's wife gave consent or provided his number, but the plaintiff alleges that he did not provide Wyndham with consent. The plaintiff seeks to certify a class of "[a]ll persons within the United States who received any collection telephone calls from [Wyndham] to said person's cellular telephone" using an automatic telephone dialing system. Wyndham has yet to appear in the action.
What Constitutes Consent Under the TCPA?
Will Wyndham Argue Prior Express Consent Under TCPA?
According to the complaint filed in the action, Wyndham placed calls to the plaintiff's wife concerning an alleged debt. Wyndham has not filed an answer, but we suspect that it may move to dismiss the complaint on prior express consent grounds. We previously blogged that Verizon had a TCPA class action dismissed by arguing that the plaintiffs in that action had provided prior express consent to be contacted for debt collection purposes. The issue in the case against Wyndham may be whether a spouse can provide prior express consent for debt collection calls. We will continue monitoring this action and provide further updates.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic or if you have been served with process concerning the TCPA or your telemarketing practices, please e-mail us at info@kleinmoynihan.com or call us at (212) 246-0900.
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