9th Circuit Denies Rehearing of TCPA Ruling Favoring Contractors

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Porch.com’s Oct. 26 petition for rehearing (see 2211090025) by the panel or rehearing en banc of the court’s Oct. 12 opinion reversing a district court’s dismissal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action on grounds that the plaintiffs lacked statutory standing because they were home improvement contractors, not consumers (see 2210130080), said an order Tuesday (docket 20-35962). The decision broadly allows anyone who owns a cellphone to sue under the TCPA, and “opens the floodgates to more TCPA litigation,” a statute “already plagued by abuse,” said Porch.com’s petition.