ROUGHED UP: Debt Collector Swallows a Tough TCPA Ruling As A Court Refuses to Let it Off the Hook For Calls It Probably Didn’t Make

1 Comment

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Here is something to be thankful for– you’re not NPAS Solutions, LLC.

They were just trapped in a TCPA suit for calls they claim they didn’t even make and, I gotta tell you, I think they probably should be set free.

In Woodman v. NPAS, 2023 WL 8084842 (D. Nv.) the Plaintiff claimed NPAS made calls to her after a revocation. Yet the Defendant’s records confirm it made no calls after the date she asked for calls to stop.

But the Plaintiff argued she received a voicemail from an entity called NPAS, so it must have been Defendant. Defendant countered that a totally different company called NPAS, Inc. likely made that call–not it.

Still the Court found in favor of the Plaintiff determining a jury needs to decide whether NPAS made the challenged call or not.

Complicating matters, the Court took judicial notice on its own accord of Better Business Bureau records purporting to show the number that made the calls at issue belong to the Defendant.

A whole bunch of problems with that. In the first place, BBB records are DEFINITELY not records of indisputable accuracy. These are hearsay records of dubious origin. And BBB could easily have confused NPAS, Inc. with NPAS Solutions. So… weak.

Second, why is the court doing Plaintiff’s work for her??? If Plaintiff didn’t point to the BBB records the Court certainly should not have scraped some tid bit from the internet and used it as an excuse to keep the Defendant in the case.

I have to say I am sympathetic to the Defense here. if NPAS really did not place the calls at issue they have no business being stuck in the case to trial. No bueno.

In any event, be sure to check out our pics from yesterday’s FIRMsgiving–and have a great Thanksgiving TCPAWorld!

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

1 Comment

  1. So here’s the thing…NPAS is claiming they didn’t make the calls.
    The complaint shows 2 numbers that plaintiff claims made the calls:
    “21. Ms. Woodman received the calls from the following numbers: (800) 777-9929 and (800) 888-2238. Upon information and belief, these telephone numbers belong to or are operated by NPAS”
    So first I Googled each number and then actually called them (a little known secretive investigative method 😉 in both cases, each number indicates/answered the phone as a debt collection company called ‘MediCredit, Inc. (WTH?!?!?)
    So initially I thought holy crap Troutman is right!
    Unwilling and hardly able to accept that on its face, I dug a bit deeper: per the BBB pages for both MediCredit AND NPAS Solutions, LLC they include the same employee:
    Ms. Anna Ansell, Regulatory Manager, Compliance – MediCredit
    https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/saint-louis/profile/collections-agencies/medicredit-inc-0734-110035703
    Ms. Anna Ansell, Assistant – NPAS
    https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/earth-city/profile/collections-agencies/npas-solutions-llc-0734-310608980/details
    Also, note that (800) 888-2238 appears on both BBB sites.
    Hmmm…coincidence?
    **********************
    But wait there’s more!
    Not ready to accept the seeming connection between both companies (due to the BBB credibility issues raised by you know who) we check Anna Ansell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-ansell-ccco-hcm-9760a9107/
    She claims: “Parallon – Regulatory Compliance Manager leading initiatives within Revenue Cycle Point Solutions, Specialty Center locations, and business lines”
    So then we check the NPAS linkedIn:
    https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=NPAS%20solutions%2C%20llc&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER&sid=8xk
    The top employee listing shows :
    “LinkedIn Member – Director of Operations – NPAS Solutions, LLC
    Louisville, KY
    Current: Director of Operations, NPAS Solutions at Parallon – Revenue Cycle Point Solutions”
    Notice any common denominators???
    This is all too coincidental for NPAS and MediCredit NOT to be connected – verdict, goes to plaintiff…
    Happy Turkey Day

    Reply

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