Debt Relief Services Promoter Phoned Plaintiff 27 Times in 2 Months, Alleges Complaint
Yazmin Gonzalez filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in El Paso to thwart the “barrage of illegal telemarketing calls” she began receiving in September from Countrywide Legal Group to promote its debt relief services. The pro…
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se plaintiff “seeks redress” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Texas Business and Commerce Code (TBCC), “demanding that the calls stop,” said her complaint (docket 3:23-cv-00436). Gonzalez estimates she received at least 27 calls from Countrywide between Sept. 13 and Nov. 11, to a number she listed on the national do not call registry Feb. 15, it said. Countrywide’s telemarketers initiated the “numerous unsolicited telephone calls,” despite the El Paso resident repeatedly telling them she wasn’t interested in their services and to stop calling her, it said. The TBCC requires sellers to obtain a registration certificate from the secretary of state authorizing those sellers to make phone solicitations within the state of Texas or to residents located within Texas, it said. The TBCC provides consumers with a private right of action to seek damages up to $5,000 per violation, compared with treble damages of up to $1,500 for each knowing or willful TCPA violation, said the complaint. An online database shows that Countrywide doesn’t own a valid telemarketing registration or certificate as the TBCC requires, said the complaint.