Nelson Estrada denies the allegations in defendant Aragon Advertising’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act counterclaim that he’s a common law fraudster, said Estrada’s answer Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-03407) in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston. The plaintiff’s Sept. 12 class action alleged that Aragon inundated his cellphone with 37 “unauthorized and illegal” solicitation calls, to a number listed on the national do not call registry since June 2008 (see 2312070040). Aragon alleged in its Dec. 6 counterclaim that Estrada is a budding professional TCPA litigant who shops lawsuits around different law firms, and that he faked interest in Aragon’s products and services just to drive up the call count to extract a higher settlement payout for his “manufactured TCPA claim.” Estrada’s answer asks the court to enter judgment in his favor and to dismiss Aragon’s counterclaim with prejudice.

Nexum Group, an Orlando debt collection agency, hounded plaintiff Anatres Ciotti with at least 17 calls for a $4,000 debt he didn’t owe, alleged Ciotti’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Wednesday (docket 6:23-cv-02477) in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Orlando. Ciotti’s demands that the “harassing” calls cease “fell on deaf ears,” said the Sandford, Florida, resident's complaint. At no point in time did Ciotti give his cellphone number to Nexum or otherwise consent to its phone calls, it said. The calls have invaded Ciotti’s privacy and have caused him “actual harm,” including the aggravation that accompanies unwanted robocalls, it said. His complaint also alleges Nexum violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act.

Plaintiff Keesha Willis voluntarily dismissed with prejudice her Nov. 17 Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint against DriveTime Car Sales, said her notice Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-16094) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. Each party will bear its own costs and fees, said the notice. Willis had alleged that DriveTime, a car dealership and finance company that caters to customers with poor credit records, inundated her cellphone with solicitation calls after she canceled a purchase (see 2311200001).

Plaintiff Michael Dahdah is opposing defendant Rocket Mortgage's Dec. 1 motion seeking reconsideration of U.S. District Judge Kay Behm's Nov. 17 order denying Rocket’s motion to compel Dahdah’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims to arbitration (see 2312040036). Dahdah filed his opposition Friday (docket 4:22-cv-11863) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Flint. Rocket fails to satisfy “its initial burden with evidence to prove the existence of an agreement to arbitrate and that compelling arbitration would be appropriate,” said the opposition. Rocket incorrectly argues that Behm “applied the wrong law” in her evaluation of “conspicuous notice,” it said. But her discussion “is consistent with the case law,” it said. The judge concluded that Rocket hadn’t met its burden of proof “based on the totality of the circumstances,” it said. Rocket’s motion for reconsideration should be denied because a trial “is not appropriate in the circumstances herein,” said the opposition. In this case, the court evaluated only the evidence presented by Rocket to determine if the arbitration disclosure “was reasonably conspicuous,” it said. A failure of a party’s own evidence can’t create “a material issue of fact,” it said. In finding that Rocket didn’t satisfy its burden of proving that the disclosure was reasonably conspicuous, Behm “correctly found that Rocket had not met its burden of showing a valid arbitration agreement,” it said. The motion to compel arbitration was “properly denied,” so there’s no “factual dispute to try,” it said.

Mutual of Omaha hired vendor Golden Ridge Insurance to engage in automated telemarketing calls by contacting numbers listed on the national do not call registry, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, alleged plaintiff Debora Collins’ class action Tuesday (docket 0:23-cv-62398) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. The Florida resident also alleges that Golden Ridge uses automated systems to make telemarketing calls from Florida, and that by doing so, Golden Ridge and Mutual of Omaha violated provisions of the Florida Telephone Solicitations Act, said her complaint. The recipients of Golden Ridge’s illegal calls, including Collins and her proposed class, are entitled to damages under the TCPA and FTSA, it said. Because the technology Golden Ridge used when calling on behalf of Mutual of Omaha makes calls en masse, “the appropriate vehicle for their recovery is a class action lawsuit,” it said. Collins’ number is a residential number that has been listed on the national DNC registry since 2004, but she nevertheless received at least four telemarketing calls from Golden Ridge, on behalf of Mutual of Omaha, in October, said her complaint. Collins and all members of the class “have been harmed by the acts" of Mutual of Omaha and Golden Ridge “because their privacy has been violated, they were annoyed and harassed, and, in some instances, they were charged for incoming calls,” it said. The calls occupied their phones, “rendering them unavailable for legitimate communication,” it said.

Defendant Arcadia Power seeks to compel Robert Doane's Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims to arbitration, said its memorandum of law Friday (docket 1:23-cv-11679) in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in Boston in support of its motion to compel. Though Arcadia denies that Doane’s claims about the phone calls he allegedly received from Arcadia have any merit, the company's motion “focuses solely on the procedural impropriety” of those claims, said the memorandum. At the time the plaintiff enrolled in Arcadia’s community solar program, “he also agreed to a mandatory and binding arbitration provision that applies to the very claims he asserts here,” it said. Doane’s July 26 complaint alleged that Arcadia is engaged in a scheme to lure Massachusetts consumers to subscribe to renewable energy programs through illegal telemarketing activities, in violation of the TCPA, the Massachusetts Telephone Solicitation Act and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (see 2307270040).

Plaintiff Kawa Orthodontics voluntarily dismissed without prejudice its Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against Northwell Health Labs, said its Thursday notice of dismissal (docket 9:23-cv-81424) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Kawa’s Oct. 26 class action alleged that four Northwell subsidiaries customarily sent unsolicited fax advertisements promoting lab services to unhappy clinical recipients (see 2310270005). The notice of dismissal came less than a week after the court ordered Kawa to either move for default judgment against Northwell or show cause why it hadn't done so (see 2312180015).

Alissa Hoheisel filed a class action Friday to stop Crown Roofing & Solar from violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by placing unsolicited telemarketing phone calls to consumers without their consent, including calls to consumers whose numbers are listed on the national do not call registry, said her complaint (docket 2:23-cv-02563) in U.S. District Court for Kansas in Kansas City. To avoid liability for its illegal telemarketing practices, Crown Roofing & Solar, a business based in Wichita, doesn’t disclose its company name when placing unsolicited calls, said Hoheisel’s complaint. The Goddard, Kansas, resident alleges receiving multiple unwanted calls from Crown Roofing & Solar in November, though her number was listed on the national DNC registry since June 2010. When she answered one of the calls, the caller said he was with a roofing company that was in the area to provide roof repair services due to a storm that had come through, said the complaint. Hoheisel asked the caller how he got her contact information and he responded that it was “none of her business,” it said. Hoheisel never gave Crown Roofing & Solar her cellphone number or consent to be called, nor was she seeking roofing services, it said. Hoheisel heard from other people in her neighborhood that they were receiving similar calls, it said. The unauthorized calls have harmed Hoheisel “in the form of annoyance, nuisance, and invasion of privacy, and disturbed her use and enjoyment of her phone,” it said.

Northeastern Health Group, a health insurance company, made telemarketing calls to residential phone numbers listed on the national do not call registry, in prohibition of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, alleged Kristy Beckwith’s class action Thursday (docket 0:23-cv-62387) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Beckwith never consented to receive the telemarketing calls, said her complaint. Because telemarketing campaigns “generally place calls to hundreds of thousands or even millions of potential customers en masse,” Beckwith filed her complaint on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of other persons who received illegal telemarketing calls from or on behalf of the defendant, it said. Beckwith estimates she received at least six telemarketing calls to her number, which was listed on the national DNC registry since late July, it said. Beckwith and the other call recipients “were harmed by these calls,” it said. They were temporarily deprived of legitimate use of their phones “because the phone line was tied up during the telemarketing calls and their privacy was improperly invaded, it said. The calls injured Beckwith and the other call recipients “because they were frustrating, obnoxious, annoying, were a nuisance and disturbed the solitude of plaintiff and the class,” it said.

DirecTV authorized its agents to make unsolicited telemarketing calls on its behalf to promote DirecTV’s products and services, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, alleged Diana Mey’s complaint Thursday (docket 5:23-cv-00367) in U.S. District Court for Northern West Virginia in Wheeling. At all relevant times, Mey’s three cellphone numbers were listed on the national do not call registry and used for residential purposes, said her complaint. But despite being listed on the registry, DirecTV, “directly or through one or more intermediaries, initiated telephone calls to the Wheeling, West Virginia, resident to induce the sale of DirecTV’s products and services,” it said. The DirecTV callers spoofed their calls by transmitting phony caller ID “to disguise the true source of the call,” it said. She estimates receiving dozens of DirecTV telemarketing calls, none with her prior written consent. She seeks injunctive relief, plus $1,500 in statutory damages for each knowing and willful TCPA violation.