Santander Consumer USA, Inc. makes auto loans, and it also makes telephone calls trying to collect amounts owed on auto loans. The complaint for this class action alleges that Santander sometimes also calls wrong numbers, “badgering” people about accounts that do not belong to them, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The class for this action is all persons called by or on behalf of Santander on their cell phones with an artificial or prerecorded voice without their prior express consent, between November 19, 2017 and the date of trial in this case.
The complaint alleges, “The majority of Santander’s auto loan portfolio consists of subprime receivables from consumers who do not qualify for conventional consumer finance products, as a result of, among other things, a lack of or adverse credit history, low-income levels, and/or the inability to provide adequate down payments.”
Because of this, the complaint alleges, “the debtors that Santander targets and attempts to collect from are often in unstable circumstances where they are relatively more susceptible to harassment, oppression and abuse.”
Santander is therefore willing to apply coercive techniques to trying to collect the debts, the complaint suggests, saying that the company is “using automatic telephone dialing systems (‘ATDS’) and employing prerecorded or artificial voice calls to harass debtors, debtors’ relative, and other contacts multiple times a day, and willfully and knowingly ignoring complaints and requests that the calls stop.”
The plaintiff in this case, Christina Rupert, have received at least 145 calls from Santander, despite the fact that she has never been a customer of the company or the debtor for any of its loans. She has never given the company permission to call her.
The complaint alleges that Santander continues to knowingly and willfully make calls to her number, in spite of the fact that she has told it many times that she is not the person it is looking for and has repeatedly demanded that the calls stop.
The complaint alleges that Santander knows it is calling a wrong number because “when [Rupert] was connected to a live representative or called Santander directly, Santander refused to discuss the account connected to her cellular telephone number with her for the stated reason that [Rupert’s] name was not associated with that account.”
The complaint alleges, “Santander has been sued multiple times for calling behavior similar to the behavior described in this Complaint.” Therefore, the complaint says that Santander is fully aware of the TCPA and its prohibitions.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Privacy
Most Recent Case Event
Santander Consumer 145 Calls to Wrong Number TCPA Complaint
November 19, 2021
Santander Consumer USA, Inc. makes auto loans, and it also makes telephone calls trying to collect amounts owed on auto loans. The complaint for this class action alleges that Santander sometimes also calls wrong numbers, “badgering” people about accounts that do not belong to them, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Santander Consumer 145 Calls to Wrong Number TCPA ComplaintCase Event History
Santander Consumer 145 Calls to Wrong Number TCPA Complaint
November 19, 2021
Santander Consumer USA, Inc. makes auto loans, and it also makes telephone calls trying to collect amounts owed on auto loans. The complaint for this class action alleges that Santander sometimes also calls wrong numbers, “badgering” people about accounts that do not belong to them, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Santander Consumer 145 Calls to Wrong Number TCPA Complaint