InfoBytes Blog
District Court dismisses FDCPA and TCPA claims against online retailer
On March 5, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted an online retailer’s motion to dismiss an action alleging the retailer violated the FDCPA and the TCPA. According to the opinion, the plaintiff received a $300 credit line with the retailer for a laptop computer, which the plaintiff alleges he never received. The plaintiff alleges that the retailer continued to seek payment for the laptop and repeatedly contacted the plaintiff by phone after the plaintiff disputed the payment and informed the retailer to only communicate in writing. The retailor subsequently sent the plaintiff a letter acknowledging his request to only be contacted in writing, revoking prior consent to be contacted by phone. The plaintiff then filed the FDCPA and TCPA claims against the retailer after the plaintiff sought to collect $150,000 from the retailer for expenses defending against the retailer’s collection attempts, which the plaintiff argued the retailer “tacitly agreed” to pay. The retailer moved to dismiss the claims arguing the plaintiff failed to allege the retailer was a “debt collector” under the FDCPA and that the plaintiff failed to establish the retailer called the plaintiff without his prior consent under the TCPA. The court agreed, noting that the retailer had serviced the plaintiff’s account “well before” the plaintiff owed an actual debt and therefore, is not a debt collector under the FDCPA. As for the TCPA claim, the court found that the plaintiff failed to show the retailer called him after the parties agreed to revoke the prior consent. The court rejected the plaintiff’s argument that he had revoked consent prior to the retailer’s acknowledgment of the revocation, noting that a party cannot unilaterally revoke consent under the TCPA. Because the plaintiff failed to state plausible claims under the FDCPA and the TCPA, the court dismissed the action and denied the plaintiff leave to amend his complaint.