NMAC Shells Out $2.2M to Settle Claims of TCPA Violations
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. has agreed to pay $2.2 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law designed by Congress to protect consumers from receiving unwanted communications without prior consent.
NMAC denied all liability in the case, according to a March 18 motion filed in California federal court. Per the settlement agreement, NMAC will pay between $75 and $250 to each person affected by the allegations. Court documents noted that the class size likely “numbered in the thousands.”
Based on the payout, Auto Finance News estimates the class might include as many as 29,000 people.
The lawsuit alleges that the captive contacted non-customers to collect on delinquent debts. Additionally, NMAC allegedly used its auto-dialer to place those calls and conveyed prerecorded messages to third parties who had not consented to receive such calls.
NMAC’s settlement is the second such TCPA agreement reached with an auto lender this month. Flagship Credit Acceptance agreed to a $4 million class-action settlement against allegations that the subprime lender violated the TCPA. With that, the Auto Finance Risk Summit is delving into TCPA compliance standards and how lenders are impacted.
Despite the proposed settlement, the captive denied all claims. “NMAC denies any liability or wrongdoing of any kind and has vigorously defended the litigation,” according to the motion. “NMAC specifically denies using the technology regulated by the TCPA or contacting numbers for which it had no consent. Additionally, it also denies that any claims asserted in the litigation were appropriate for class treatment.”
The proposed settlement class includes any non-Nissan customer in the U.S. who received automated, non-emergency calls from NMAC on their cell phones from March 24, 2012, through March 18, 2019, according to the agreement.
For more content like this, check out our upcoming event Auto Finance Accelerate, May 13-16 at the Omni San Diego. Visit www.AutoFinanceAccelerate.com to register.
