Spam call lawsuits continue to plague brokers and lenders as litigants have filed yet another wave of the class action cases against the industry.
Consumers in the past two months have filed 11
Some of the recent companies targeted have already been hit with TCPA suits this year. The newest batch of cases feature some recurring attorneys from past lender spam call suits, and at least one serial TCPA litigant.
In all, at least two dozen such cases have been filed against mortgage firms since the beginning of the year, as the pace of litigation
Attorney Peter Schneider of TCPA Hammer Law attributed the increased amount of TCPA suits to more telemarketing calls and solicitations. He filed a case on behalf of a Washington consumer against a brokerage this week, but declined to comment specifically on that case against Michigan-based Mortgage One Funding.
Speaking about the trend at large, he said that some unwanted calls could be the result of carelessness, but that some companies see the outreach as a lucrative bet.
"Maybe they're only sued one time for 50,000 calls, and maybe they make more money off those 50,000 illegal calls than they have to pay out in a lawsuit," said Schneider, regarding the reasons for the calls and texts.
Two of the companies recently sued told National Mortgage News they operated in compliance with statutes. None of the latest defendants have formally responded to the lawsuits, as
Who's getting sued?
The companies hit with TCPA lawsuits since early April are:
- AmeriSave Mortgage in Sandy Springs, Georgia;
- Caliver Beach Mortgage in Owings Mills, Maryland;
- Clearpath Lending in Irvine, California;
- E Mortgage Capital in Santa Ana, California;
- eMortgage Funding in Troy, Michigan;
- Mortgage One Funding in Clawson, Michigan;
- Mortgagepros in Troy, Michigan;
- New Era Lending in Houston, Texas;
- Rocket Mortgage in Detroit, Michigan;
- Westpark Loans in Irvine, California;
- United Lending Team (Afex Lending) in Troy, Michigan.
E Mortgage Capital, E Mortgage Funding, Mortgage One Funding and Rocket Mortgage have previously been sued for TCPA violations this year. Kimberly Hudson, who sued Caliver Beach Mortgage, has filed numerous spam call lawsuits against various companies. Attorney Anthony Paronich, who filed a complaint on behalf of Deborah Ann Collins against New Era Lending, is also frequently behind TCPA cases.
Each of the cases are built on handfuls of alleged unwanted home loan solicitations via text messages or prerecorded phone calls to consumers on the national Do Not Call Registry. Some of the cases include screenshots of the purported outreach, including the suit against Rocket which claims the lender was
In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for Rocket said the company is confident it will be vindicated once the facts of the case are presented. A spokesperson for E Mortgage Capital described the lender's compliance with consumer law, and that its marketing outreach is screened against DNC lists.
"Company policy prohibits loan officers from engaging in any marketing activity that violates these laws or internal requirements," the statement from E Mortgage Capital read.
The other companies sued didn't reply to requests for comment, while only one other plaintiff's attorney declined to comment this week.
Fines, settlements and a rare lender win
Each TCPA violation could cost lenders $500, or $1,500 per outreach for knowing or willful violations.
Given the potential penalties, real estate players have reached agreements with plaintiffs as TCPA cases at large rarely go to trial. While some smaller resolutions remain undisclosed, recent industry settlements include a $7.2 million agreement
Industry defendants file motions to dismiss the allegations, and some cases have fallen into back-and-forth arguments before federal courts, although lenders have seen some success.
Southern California-based Loanstream this week notched an early victory in a class action suit by a consumer, as a federal judge denied the plaintiff's motion
