NOT MARKETING: Court Reminds TCPAWorld that Debt Collection Just Doesn’t Trigger the DNC Rules

Add a comment

Law Conference of Champions V Ticket Price as I post: $229.00

A lot of esoteric and nuanced rulings in TCPAWorld recently.

This one isn’t.

Debt collection isn’t marketing. The end.

In Nickson v. TrueAccord Corp. 2026 WL 2979443 (D. Md. Oct. 5, 2026) Plaintiff argued he received unwanted debt collection calls from defendant he did not consent to. So he sued TrueAccord was sued for violating both the regulated technology portion of the TCPA and the DNC portion. But he lost both claims.

As to the ATDS component the defendant properly introduced evidence that its dialer “does not ‘create, derive or independently store telephone numbers’ and that ‘[t]he Platform does not permit the sending of messages using random number generation or sequential number generation functionality.'” Nice work there– the Defendant properly addressed both the “produce” and the “store” prong of the ATDS formulation with its record evidence. That left Plaintiff nowhere to hide and his ATDS claim failed.

On the DNC claim the analysis was even more straightforward. The DNC rules only apply to solicitations– and a solicitation “is a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services…”

But the calls at issue were debt collection calls–made for the purpose of making plaintiff pay for his purchase or rental of property, goods, or services. But that is not the same.

Because Plaintiff could not allege a marketing purpose to the debt collection calls the DNC claim automatically failed.

This is, without question, the proper result– even if it means debt collectors can hound you with debt collection calls without your consent under the TCPA. But that is where the FDCPA’s rules come in to protect consumers, at least in theory.

Also Troutman Amin, LLP was the first law firm in America to BAN GenAI usage in the practice of law– and the firm’s growth exploded after that decision. Smart clients are staying away from lawyers that use GenAi– and they’re winning!

Chat soon

Discover more from TCPAWorld

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Categories:

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.

Leave a Reply