Bank Allegedly Robocalls Man More Than 125 Times to Collect a Debt

Orlando, FLA Florida man is suing Credit One Bank, claiming that the bank "robocalled" him more than 125 times in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Ronnie Selby on April 10, 2017 filed a lawsuit Selby v. Credit One Bank NA, Case No. 6:17-cv-642, US District Court, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division against Credit One Bank, alleging that the Nevada-based bank violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by continuing to call his cell phone, attempting to collect a debt after he told the bank's agent to stop calling.

The TCPA was enacted in 1991 to protect consumers from unsolicited pre-recorded or autodialed telephone calls, text messages or faxes. Originally, the law was aimed primarily at telemarketers.

However, the TCPA also now specifically prohibits calls from companies to all wireless devices without the recipient's permission. Additionally, the TCPA prohibits companies from calling customers after the recipient of the call tells the company to stop phoning.

After Selby's request to cease the calls, Credit One Bank allegedly telephoned plaintiff using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS), also known as a robocall, more than 125 times, according to the complaint.

When Selby answered a call from an agent and demanded that Credit One Bank stop calling him, "a representative from defendant used profane language" toward Selby, according to the complaint.

Selby claims in his lawsuit that Credit One Bank ignored his requests for them to stop calling and bombarded him with a "barrage of phone calls" to his cell phone.

According to the lawsuit, Credit One Bank allegedly "has a corporate policy of using an ATDS or a prerecorded or artificial voice message to collect debts from individuals such as Plaintiff for its financial benefit."

"Defendant intentionally harassed and abused Plaintiff on numerous occasions by calling several times during one day, and on back to back days, with such a frequency as can be reasonably expected to harass," the lawsuit states.

A sponsor of the TCPA described robocalls as "the scourge of modern civilization," according to Selby's lawsuit: "They wake us up in the morning; they interrupt our dinner at night; they force the sick and elderly out of bed; they hound us until we want to rip the telephone out of the wall."