A federal judge in Illinois has sent to trial a collection case involving subprime lender Consumer Portfolio Services. U.S. District Judge John Grady sided with plaintiffs Roslyn Griffith and Jerret Cain, who claimed that CPS used an autodialer to contact their cell phones with unauthorized calls and text messages.
At issue is a Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits calls to certain telephone numbers, including cell numbers, using an “automatic telephone dialing system,” except in an emergency or with the recipient’s “prior express consent.”
I can understand how a third-party collection agency might have trouble with the “prior express consent” issue, but don’t loan originators include language in their contracts that tells borrowers they could be contacted for collection efforts via the phone numbers ― whether cell phone or landline ― they provide? If not, I have a hunch we’ll see a lot more of these cases crop up.
