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CEB Prac. Guide § 2B.05: "Call" Defined -- Other Electronic Media

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District Court (Fla.) Denies Class Cert. In “Ringless-Voicemail” TCPA Class Action Because Plaintiff Lacked Standing, and Plaintiff’s Claims Were Not Typical of the Class

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Toney v. Advantage Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, No. 6:20-cv-182-WWB-EJK, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141242, at *8 (M.D. Fla. July 27, 2021), Judge Embry denied class certification in a "ringless" voicemail message TCPA class action. In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that he, and others similarly situated to him, received a "ringless" voicemail with a pre-recorded message from Advantage. (Doc. 40 ¶¶ 31,… Read More

District Court (Nev.) Says Ringless Technology “Calls” the Intended Recipient under the TCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

  In Caplan v. Budget Van Lines, No. 2:20-CV-130 JCM (VCF), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136865 (D. Nev. July 31, 2020), Judge Mayan denied a ringless technology defendant’s motion to dismiss a TCPA claim The second issue is whether RVMs constitute calls under the TCPA. RVM technology allows a message to be placed in a recipient's voicemail without the recipient's… Read More

District Court (Fla.) Says Ringless Technology Triggers TCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Picton v. Greenway Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge, No. 6:19-cv-196-Orl-31DCI, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103796 (M.D. Fla. June 21, 2019), Judge Presnell allowed a TCPA claim to proceed based on “calls” placed by ringless technology. The So-called "ringless" voicemail technology allows advertisers to transmit recorded messages via the Internet directly to the voicemail box associated with a cellular telephone without causing the [*2]  phone… Read More

District Court (Fla.) Says Ringless Voicemail Technology Places a “Call” under the TCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Schaevitz v. Braman Hyundai, No. 1:17-cv-23890-KMM, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48906 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 25, 2019), Judge Moore found that direct-to-voicemail call technology placed a “call” under the TCPA.  The facts were as follows: Major Advertising, LLC, on behalf of Defendant, transmitted an unsolicited pre—recorded voicemail message (the "Message") to Plaintiff's cellular telephone, which stated as follows: Hi, this… Read More

District Court (Mass.) Says VoiP Service Not Protected by TCPA Unless Defendant Knew that Plaintiff’s Number Was Assigned to VoiP Service

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Breda v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a/ Verizon Wireless, 2017 WL 5586661, at *3–5 (D.Mass., 2017), Judge Casper granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant because Plaintiff's number had been assigned to a VoiP plan that was not protected by the TCPA.  The facts were as follows: Cellco placed calls to Breda's phone number to discuss a Verizon customer's account status in error (the… Read More

District Court (Conn.) Says 29 Calls in 24 Days Can Be Harassment; Says Calls Received Over VoiP Do Not Trigger TCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Lundstedt v. I.C. System, Inc., 2017 WL 4281057, at *2–3 (D.Conn., 2017), Judge Meyer allowed an FDCPA claim to proceed based on the call pattern alleged in the Complaint. [D]efendant argues that the alleged pattern of calls—29 calls over a period of 24 days—is legally insufficient to show an intent to annoy, abuse, or harass plaintiff as the statute requires.… Read More

District Court (Pa.) Finds that Calls Over VoiP Resulted in No Charge to Plaintiff; So, No TCPA Violation

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Klein v. Commerce Energy, Inc., 2017 WL 2672290, at *10 (W.D.Pa., 2017), Judge Conti granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant against a Plaintiff who received calls over VoiP and through Google. There is no dispute that the challenged calls were made to Klein's VoIP number. Collectcents and Commerce Energy, however, dispute that either of them can be held… Read More

District Court (Pa.) Says Creditor Not Vicariously Liable under TCPA for Debt Collector’s Calls to Wrong Call Recipient who Received Calls Over Google VoiP; Leaves Spokeo Issue for Another Day

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Klein v. Just Energy Group, Inc., 2016 WL 3539137, at *2 (W.D.Pa., 2016), Judge Conti granted summary judgment to an energy company who's debt collectors placed wrong-party calls to Klein over Klein's Google VoiP.    Because Klein's VoIP number had been erroneously recorded as the number for P.S., Commerce Energy, Inc. d/b/a Just Energy provided Klein's VoIP number to Collectcents… Read More

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