SACRAMENTO – A lawsuit has been filed against a company using telephone solicitation, claiming it is in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The suit was filed by John Mogannam against Lenders Cloud LLC, also known as Fast Working Capital, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on Oct 28. In his suit, Mogannam alleges the business called him several times to solicit its loan services even though he claims he was on the Do-Not-Call list, which prohibits these types of calls.
He has filed a class-action suit against the company on behalf of all others who have allegedly been unlawfully contacted and solicited by the defendants as stipulated under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Mogannam claims he suffered damages that were caused by receiving multiple unwanted phone calls from the business on his cell phone during October 2015.
Taking the case to court is not much of a surprise, Julie Griffiths, Central California regional director at California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, told the Northern California Record. “I am not surprised by this case," she said. "Too often people resort to lawsuits when there are legitimate ways to file complaints within existing government structures.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides donotcall.gov as a place where consumers can report violators of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A telephone solicitor must review the Do-Not-Call list every 31 days to learn about any new phone numbers that have been added to it that it may not call. Nonprofit, political and telephone survey organizations are exempt from the list and may still continue to call consumers. Violators of the Do-Not-Call registry may be fined up to $40,000 for each call that is made to a person on the list, according to the FTC.
Mogannam in his suit is seeking $500 in statutory damages for each violation that occurred by Lenders Cloud in addition to $1,500 in treble damages, legal fees, and any additional relief the court deems necessary. He is seeking a jury trial for the case.
“I know of other such lawsuits that have been filed and this seems to be a frequent avenue used for litigation,” said Griffiths. “As a result, I expect the defendant will push for a settlement, but I also suspect the plaintiff attorneys will drag that settlement out.”
A person can subscribe their landline as well as their cell phone to the Do-Not-Call list at any time. The number is removed from the list after it has been disconnected or reassigned. According to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, calls can’t be placed before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. by a solicitor. If a consumer has developed any kind of relationship with a business, the business may call, but must stop if you ask it not to call.
Mogannam is being represented by Todd M. Friedman, Adrian R. Bacon, and Meghan E. George of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC. Lenders Cloud is a business capital loan lender that promotes offering 2,500 loan products to businesses.