A $28 million settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit against security services company Alarm.com offers an important warning to marketing companies that regularly contact consumers. This settlement is a result of allegations brought against the company for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in December of 2015 by use of an autodialer to send previously recorded advertising messages to over a million consumer cell phones. Plaintiffs claim that Alliance, a telemarketing company hired by Alarm.com sent these unsolicited messages.
Plaintiffs and consumers in this lawsuit alleged that Alarm.com class placed a large number of calls that violated the TCPA. The class-action lawsuit argues that Alarm.com violated the TCPA using four different methods:
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act protects consumers from excessive, harassing, and annoying or harassing communication that they didn’t consent to receive. The TCPA specifically prohibits companies using autodialer systems to call randomly selected numbers from their databases.
Pre-recorded messages, also known as robocalls, are also disallowed under this law, and the TCPA created the National Do Not Call registry to help consumers stay off these database lists. The registry allows a consumer to add their phone numbers to a do not call list that companies are required to compare to in hopes of avoiding those who do not want to receive these types of marketing calls.
Fines are steep for companies found in violation of the TCPA. For violations that occur out of negligence, the guilty business may pay up to $500 for each illegal contact. If a company purposefully breaks this law, each violation carries a fine of up to $1,500 per violation.
In Alarm.com’s settlement case, consumers that were contacted by the company without express permission could receive $95 to $143, depending on how many of their submitted claims are valid instances of a TCPA violation. Occurrences dating back to December of 2011, as well as those who received calls despite being on the Do Not Call Registry, are part of this class action suit. The payout for the violations has equated to the same amount of the company’s net income for the year 2017, which was one of its best economic performances thus far.
Alarm.com has also agreed that their policies and advertising practices will change as part of the settlement agreement. The business made it clear that they will not use Alliance Security – the company that made the calls on their behalf- to market or process any new accounts for them. Alarm.com plans to further educate its employees also about TCPA regulations.
Soliciting phone calls from companies are more than just annoying; they are disruptive and waste your valuable time. If you did not give express consent and a company contacting you by phone, fax, or even messaging, consider getting an attorney to make them stop once and for all. If you are on a Do Not Call Registry and you still have robocalls or telemarketers bothering you, understand this is a TCPA violation, and you have rights.
Contact The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi today and get the relief from marketing harassment you deserve. Our firm believes in protecting consumers and dedicating ourselves to filing suit against companies who violate the TCPA.
Jibrael Hindi and his law firm fight against some of the largest corporations in the United States and recover significant settlements on behalf of their clients. Contact us today at 1-844-JIBRAEL for a free consultation to better understand your rights and how we can make the harassment stop once and for all.