The Challenges of TCPA Compliance for Collection Agencies

A Boston collection agency is being sued over alleged TCPA violations.

The plaintiff, Scott Bonarrigo (who is not related to Scott Baio, even though the first time I read the story I thought it was Scott Baio), claims that EOS CCA dialed his cell phone using an automatic dialer too many times, constituting an invasion of his privacy.

As The Patriot Ledger points out, “The lawsuit doesn’t provide many details about why EOS CCA was trying to contact Bonarrigo or how many times the company has tried to do so.”

Kevin Crick, Bonarrigo’s lawyer, closes out the story thusly: “I see this happening more frequently and I don’t necessarily think this is something where the law is making them go away. But one thing I’ve noticed is that more and more consumers are starting to learn about their rights with regard to the law.”

This aligns with what we’ve heard from many agencies: Collection agencies aren’t commiting egregious violations of the law. Instead, they’re getting caught in technical violations that carry hefty price tags. “Consumers can receive up to $500 per violation of the federal telecom law, or up to $1,500 if a judge agrees that the company knowingly disregarded the law,” the Ledger reported.

TCPA compliance is the topic of an upcoming Interactive Intelligence webinar in September (details to come), and an upcoming report from insideARM.com and attorney David Kaminski. We’d love to hear from you — what questions do you have, what suggestions can you make, is TCPA too much of a quagmire to deal with, or is it a calculated risk an agency has to make?