FCC – Consumer Financial Services Watch

Eleventh Circuit Bolsters FCC Interpretation of “Prior Express Consent” under the TCPA

Nov 14 2014

By: Gregory N. Blase, Andrew C. Glass, Samantha A. Miko

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently bolstered the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) interpretation of “prior express consent,” a key term under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).

In Mais v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, Inc., the plaintiff’s wife provided the plaintiff’s cellphone number on a hospital admittance form. The form disclosed that any information supplied could be shared with the hospital’s affiliates and used for any purpose, including for billing. After the plaintiff failed to pay a hospital affiliate’s invoice for treatment services rendered, the affiliate provided the plaintiff’s contact information to the defendant, which initiated collection activity, including contacting the plaintiff at the cellphone number that was provided on his admittance form by his wife. Read More

FCC Order Confirms that TCPA Regulations Require Opt-Out Notice on All Fax Advertisements, Even Those Sent with Prior Express Permission

Nov 10 2014

By: Joseph C. Wylie II, Molly K. McGinley, Nicole C. Mueller

On October 30, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released an Order that “confirms” that opt-out notices complying with rules and regulations adopted by the FCC in 2006, pursuant to the authority granted to the FCC under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, as amended by the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005, are required on all advertisements transmitted by facsimile, including advertisements transmitted with the prior express permission of the recipient. The FCC also granted retroactive waivers to parties that were reasonably uncertain about whether the opt-out notice requirement applied to faxes sent with prior express permission from the recipient. The FCC further stated that individual retroactive waivers may be extended to similarly situated parties that seek waiver requests prior to April 30, 2015.

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