In an unpublished decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that a plaintiff did not have a cause of action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) where the phone number used was the subject of twelve TCPA cases filed over a 12-month period. It was found that this phone number was not the plaintiff’s regular telephone number. Rather, it appears that this number was used only for litigation under the TCPA. Read the full story here.
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling signals a potential change in the way phone numbers are examined in TCPA cases. Previously, the validity of a case under TCPA was not extensively dependent on the actual usage of the phone number in contention. However, the recent decision suggests that if a phone number is used primarily or exclusively for litigation purposes, it will unlikely stand as a solid ground for a TCPA lawsuit.
It’s worth noting that this decision heavily lays its weight on the plaintiff’s intent behind using a particular phone number. If it’s established that the phone number is hardly used for personal or business usage but predominantly for filling TCPA cases, the plaintiff’s motive will likely be questioned, and the case could be dismissed on grounds of the number not qualifying as a “residential” number under the TCPA.
While this particular ruling does not necessarily set a sweeping precedent, it sends a clear message to the legal community. It underscores the importance of thoroughly investigating the background and purpose of the prevailing phone number in a TCPA case, and provides a new direction to approach such disputes in both lower and higher courts.