TCPA has ‘chilling effect’ on CU-member communications

Credit unions  suffer unequal treatment for having made important and welcome calls to members under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), CUNA said in an amicus brief filed Wednesday in Lindenbaum v. Realgy, LLC. CUNA called on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio’s dismissal of the TCPA lawsuit in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc. in July 2020

In that case the Supreme Court found that a 2015 amendment to the TCPA was unconstitutional and eliminated the addition going forward. However, credit union calls made between the 2015 amendment and the 2020 decision were still subject to unequal treatment under the TCPA during that time.

“Credit unions communicate with their members on a wide range of matters such as financial relief during times of emergency, information enabling participation in governance, financial education, status of loan payments, and fraud alerts. Members expect and welcome these informational communications. But under Plaintiff’s interpretation of the TCPA, a credit union that makes calls to collect private loans would face potentially crippling liability, whereas a company that calls to collect federally guaranteed loans would be exempt—a classic case of unequal treatment.”

 

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