This week, the FTC sued Francisco Salvat and a number of his business entities for making an alleged 1.3 million illegal robocalls. The calls pitched solar panel installation products and services. The Complaint, filed in Federal Court, alleges that the defendants called numbers on the national DNC list, called numbers of those who had asked calls to cease, failed to display truthful caller ID information, and were also illegal as being prohibited robocalls without consent. “Mr. Salvat’s companies ignored the Do Not Call Registry and made illegal robocalls,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Breaking the law isn’t a great way for a company to introduce itself to potential customers.”
Also in the news this week, Chase Bank settled a significant TCPA class action lawsuit to the tune of 34 million dollars. The suit alleged that Chase caused millions of illegal, non-emergency marketing robocalls to be sent without consent. The fact that Chase had a prior relationship with the individuals who were called did not save them. Chase will pay the amount of $34,000,000 into a Settlement Fund, which will cover: (1) cash payments to eligible persons in the Settlement Class who submitted valid Claim Forms; (2) a dedicated distribution of $50,000 to the Consumer Federation of America; (3) settlement administration expenses of $5,152,929.51; (4) court-approved incentive awards to the five class representatives in the amount of $1,500 each ($7,500 total); and (5) court-approved attorney fees and costs of $7,257,914.10.