Calif. Bankruptcy Firm Adds Trio of Complaints to TCPA Stack

Attorney Ahren Tiller of BLC Law Center filed a trio of Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego, where he has logged over 100 similar cases since January 2021. The lawsuits against LendingClub Bank (docket 3:23-cv-00495), Synchrony Bank (docket 3:23-cv-00496) and Comenity Bank (docket 3:23-cv-00499) also allege violations of California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA). The defendants use an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) or artificial or prerecorded voice in violation of the TCPA and RFDCPA, invading the plaintiffs’ privacy and causing them damages, the complaints allege. The plaintiffs, all residents of San Diego County, had consumer debt, having fallen on financial hardship, and were unable to maintain regular monthly payments, the complaints said. They allege agents for the financial institutions made repeated calls -- from 75-120 using ATDS -- to collect payments, despite receiving letters from the plaintiffs calling on them to cease calling. They seek statutory damages of $1,000 for RFDCPA violations; $500 in statutory damages for each negligent TCPA violation and $1,500 in statutory damages for each knowing or willful TCPA violation, said the complaints.