To enhance consumer protections against illegal robocalls, on May 1, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an Order (Order) amending 47 CFR § 1.80 (Section 1.80) of its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules. The Order: (i) removes the TCPA’s initial warning requirement prior to issuing penalties for illegal…
On June 6, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a declaratory ruling providing voice service providers with the authority to automatically enroll consumers for call blocking programs that identify and block unwanted telephone calls. This ruling is effective immediately. The ruling comes at a time when unwanted call volume…
On December 13, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Second Report and Order addressing issues with reassigned phone numbers and potential Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) liability, and establishing a safe harbor for business callers. Currently, there is no comprehensive database which allows businesses to determine whether a phone number…
On September 20, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA’s) “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) definition is vague and ambiguous, and interpreting the statutory definition anew. More specifically, in Marks v. Crunch San Diego, LLC, the court interpreted the TCPA’s ATDS definition…
On July 26, 2018, the Northern District of Illinois granted a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) defendant judgment on the pleadings because plaintiff failed to allege a required element of his claim—the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). Pinkus v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., 2018 WL 3586186 (N.D. Ill….
On March 16, 2018, the D.C. Circuit issued a long-awaited ruling in ACA International v. FCC, which struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) expansive interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA’s) “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) definition. As LenderLaw Watch analyzed more fully here, the D.C. Circuit focused…
On March 16, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in ACA International v. FCC, invalidating several key pieces of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) 2015 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) interpretive order, but upholding other aspects of that order. 885 F.3d 687 (D.C….
On March 31, 2017, the D.C. Circuit held in Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley v. FCC that, based on a plain reading of the TCPA, the FCC does not have the authority to mandate that senders of solicited fax advertisements include opt-out notices in their fax advertisements. The decision overturned…
On November 18, 2016, the FCC issued an enforcement advisory clarifying its position that autodialed text messages, known as “robotexts,” are subject to the TCPA. As we reported last year, the FCC issued a package of declaratory rulings expanding the TCPA’s scope in July 2015, and this enforcement advisory is…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently issued a citation to First National Bank Corporation (FNB) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227, for engaging in telemarketing practices with its Apple Pay and online banking services without the “express written consent” of the consumer. As previously covered…
*Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on our sister blog, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch. Visit CFEW for more real-time reporting on the full range of public federal and state consumer finance enforcement activity.* For the second quarter of 2015, Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch tracked 56 enforcement actions taken against consumer finance providers,…
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order. We wrote about this order on June 29, previewing the FCC’s focus on consumers’ ability to opt out of certain calls, its reiteration of its definition of what constitutes an autodialer, and its…
On June 18, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) issued a package of declaratory rulings (“FCC 15-72”) related to telemarketing. Although FCC 15-72 has yet to be officially released, the Commission indicated the measure is significant, particularly in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) realm. A federal law…