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DISCLAIMER: This article is based on a complaint. The defendant has not responded to the complaint to present its side of the case. The claims mentioned are accusations and should be considered as such until and unless proven otherwise.
Revocation of consent. This is something that leads to a lot of lawsuits. In this case, a collector is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it called the plaintiff a number of times after the plaintiff responded “Please Do Not Contact Me…” to a text message that was sent by the defendant.
The background: In September 2023, the plaintiff received a text message from the defendant who was attempting to collect on an unpaid debt. Ten days after receiving the text message, the plaintiff sent the defendant a text message that stated, “Please Do Not Contact Me . . .”
- Starting a week after the plaintiff sent her message, the defendant began placing phone calls to the plaintiff, in some cases leaving a voicemail message, according to the complaint. One one of the exhibits, it appears as though the plaintiff wrote, “Called 11 times after being told to stop contacting me.”
- Receiving the calls caused the plaintiff to suffer mental anguish, emotional distress, embarrassment and shame, loss of enjoyment of life, depression, anxiety, loss of appetite and energy, sleep disturbance and loss of sleep, loss of concentration, and fear of legal action, according to the complaint, which was originally filed in Florida state court and subsequently removed by the defendant to federal court.
- The suit seeks to include anyone else who received phone calls from the defendant after requesting the defendant cease communication.
The claims: The complaint accuses the defendant of violating Section 1692c(c) of the FDCPA by communicating with the plaintiff after the plaintiff revoked consent by texting “Please Do Not Contact Me…” to the defendant.
- The complaint also accuses the defendant of violating state law in Florida.
