“UNCONVINCED”: LeadsMarket Stuck in Pro Se TCPA As Motion To Dismiss DNC Claim Denied

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Thane Charman’s email address is obey.tcpa@gmail.com.

That tells you everything you need to know about one of TCPAWorld’s most notorious TCPA litigators.

While Thane has been party to class litigation in the past, his most recent handiwork is a win against Leadsmarket in a case he brought all by his lonesome.

In Charman v. Leadsmarket.com, 2025 WL 1883558 (S.D. Cal. July 7, 2025) the court refused to toss a suit seeking damages for 92 allegedly illegal text messages.

The messages were allegedly  “Leadsmarket made the text messages on behalf of California Check Cashing Stores and were sent without consent.

Apparently California Check Cashing Stores settled out from under Leadsmarket and was dismissed– but Leadsmarket was not released and tried to have the case dismissed.

The Court did throw out the internal DNC claim– finding no allegations Charman ever asked for the texts to stop– but denied the motion as to the primary DNC cause of action.

Specifically the court found allegations that Leadsmarket “solicits consumers for loan products and refers the leads to companies” and “made the text messages” at issue were sufficient to state a claim. Plus the text messages contained a link to a loan website that “is owned and operated by Defendant Leadsmarket.com.”

So… yeah. Pretty obviously this is enough to pin the texts on Leadsmarket.

Leadsmarket also argued the messages weren’t marketing in nature but the Complaint alleged the unauthorized text messages “advertised subprime loans” and contained a link to a website where an application could be submitted to receive loan offers.” So, again, pretty obviously a bad argument.

Not clear why Leadsmarket spent money on a motion to dismiss that was bound to fail unless they just wanted to fight– which I respect. But this motion was obviously going nowhere (and probably cost more than the entire claim which is unlikely to exceed $46k.)

Anyhoo, Leadsmarket remains trapped in the case and is bleeding fees while lawyerless Thane Charman gets a chance to file another complaint and the case keeps moving regardless.

Another day in TCPAWorld folks.

Incredible Lead Gen panel at LCOC– including Lending Tree’s GC and Veterans United’s Counsel!! 

Also, is it really Wednesday already? Cannot believe Law Conference of Champions kicks off THIS SUNDAY. Eesh.. I need to get my slides together. 🙂

Chat soon.

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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. While we all know that on occasion pro se plaintiff-ing may result in ‘bad case law’… Just how many actual cases would prob be an interesting project (cough, cough, oh ye with resources)…

    However, in this case wouldn’t/shouldn’t the defense (cough, cough, yet again – gotta get that cough looked at) be applauding the fact there’s no way one of those oft maligned opportunistic plaintiff attorneys being involved to reap yet another multi-million $$ payday?!?!

    Reply

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