Consumers continue to file TCPA class actions in droves, and this time the target is General Motors Financial.
According to plaintiff Monique Perez, she received “virtually daily incessant calls” to her cell phone from GM’s financing arm beginning in late 2013. But the calls were not even intended for Perez, she claimed – the defendant was seeking repayment of an alleged debt owed by a person named “Melanie.”
Perez, who alleged she never provided GM with her cell phone number, said the calls not only violated her privacy, but also reduced her cell phone minutes and increased her charges. Further, the calls were made with an automatic telephone dialing system as defined by the TCPA, she said, and were sometimes made multiple times in a single day.
“The TCPA was designed to prevent calls and text messages like [those from GM], and to protect the privacy of citizens like Plaintiff,” according to Perez’s complaint.
The suit, filed in California federal court, also claims that she was not the only person to receive such calls. The complaint seeks to certify a nationwide class of recipients within a four-year period, with Perez estimating a potential class of “thousands, if not more.” Perez also requests injunctive relief and statutory damages up to $1,500 per violation.
To read the complaint in Perez v. General Motors Financial, click here.
Why it matters: Another day, another TCPA class action. While the cases continue to mount, companies should be aware of the litigation potential and must ensure compliance with the TCPA to avoid a possible suit. Since the allegedly violative calls in this case appear to have been intended for another person, GM might have been calling a person from whom it obtained consent to call for the debt, but whose number was subsequently re-assigned to the plaintiff. As reported in other cases, the TCPA is a strict liability statute, and as such, a call to a person who has not previously consented will likely result in liability, even when innocently sent.
