Loan Servicer Phones Hundreds of Consumers Illegally, Alleges Fla. Class Action
The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority has engaged in “illegally calling” the cellphone numbers of hundreds of consumers using an artificial or prerecorded voice without first obtaining the prior express consent of the called party, alleged a Telephone Consumer Protection…
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Act class action Tuesday (docket 5:24-cv-00270) in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida. Tracie Coffey, a Wildwood, Florida, resident, seeks injunctive relief to halt the loan servicer’s illegal conduct, “which has resulted in the invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation, and disruption of the daily life of scores of individuals,” said her complaint. She also seeks statutory damages on behalf of herself and members of the class, “and any other available legal or equitable remedies,” it said. Any TCPA violations were “knowing, willful, and intentional,” and the authority didn’t maintain procedures “reasonably adapted to avoid any such violation,” it said. For months, the defendant repeatedly called Coffey on her cellphone using an artificial or prerecorded voice, though she didn’t give the defendant her prior express written consent to make these calls, said the complaint. After being harassed for months, she was forced to send the defendant a “demand letter,” informing it that it was in violation of the TCPA, it said. The defendant sent Coffey an email confirming it had received the demand letter, but “incredibly,” the authority “continued to make artificial or prerecorded calls in violation of the TCPA,” said the complaint.