Rocket Mortgage Unwanted Telemarketing TCPA Class Action

This class action accuses Rocket Mortgage, LLC of placing telemarketing calls to consumers that violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and New Hampshire state telemarketing laws. The complaint alleges that the company places unwanted calls to people without their consent, places calls to those whose numbers are on the National Do Not Call list, and does not following TCPA requirements for obtaining consent from consumers, among other things.

Rocket Mortgage is a mortgage lender. Under the TCPA, businesses like Rocket are prohibited from placing multiple, unsolicited, autodialed calls to phone numbers that are listed on the National Do Not Call (DNC) registry.

The complaint alleges that Rocket uses an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to make its telemarketing calls, that it does place multiple calls to number on the DNC registry, and that it also violates New Hampshire telemarketing laws. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff for this action, Richard Daschbach, has received a number of such calls from Rocket.

Particularly at issue is the website fedratewatch.org. Daschbach came across it via a link in an article on saving money that suggested that individuals might save $3,600 per year off their mortgages. Daschbach followed the links that were inviting him to check to see whether he was eligible, the complaint alleges, which led him through a number of simple and almost generic questions.

The complaint alleges the eleventh page proclaimed that “Your rates are ready to view!” and asked him to “Enter your information for personalized results.” Daschbach entered his name, email address, and telephone number and then clicked submit. However, he was not shown any rates, much less any “personalized results,” the complaint says, but instead showed links to third-party websites that might be contacted.

However, that same eleventh page contained, beneath the Submit button, where Daschbach did not see it, the complaint alleges, a small-print notation that by submitting information, individuals were agreeing to be contacted by 4,300 “marketing partners” such as Rocket. The complaint alleges that this notation does not satisfy the TCPA’s requirements for consent to telemarketing, including the requirement that the notice be “clear and conspicuous.”

Six classes have been defined for this action.

The Autodialed Call Class is all persons in the US who, between September 2, 2018 and the date the notice is sent to class members in this case, (1) Rocket, or a third party acting on behalf of Rocket, called or texted (2) on the person’s cell phone (3) for the same purpose the plaintiff in this case was called, (4) using the equipment used to call the plaintiff in this case, and (5) for whom Rocket claims it obtained prior express consent via the website fedratewatch.org.

Also defined are an Autodialed Stop Call Class, a DNC Registry Class, a DNC Stop Class, a New Hampshire DNC Registry Class, and a New Hampshire DNC Stop Class.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: Called Number on Do Not Call Registry, TCPA, Unsolicited Telephone Calls, Use of Automatic-Capable Dialer, Your Privacy