When this past April an Arizona woman received a phone call from Rocket Mortgage offering her mortgage products and services she had not requested or inquired about, she declined, then claims to have requested not to be contacted again. But, she alleges in a new lawsuit filed Nov. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, she was then subjected to 27 more calls over the next 10 days from the same phone number that initially contacted her.
Citing a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the woman, Kellie Deits, is seeking class action status for hundreds of other consumers against the Detroit-based mortgage company, which would include others who unsuccessfully requested not to be called over a 12-month period within the past five years. Deits is seeking $500 for each violation of the TCPA, along with an injunction prohibiting Rocket from making telemarketing calls to residential phone numbers that do not wish to receive them.
A similar suit against Rocket Mortgage was filed in California in June, but was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for Eastern California.
Rocket Mortgage denied wrongdoing in an emailed statement to RISMedia.
“We care deeply about client service, as is evident by our 20 J.D. Power awards, numerous industry accolades and one of our ISMs, or founding principles, that insists we ‘Do The Right Thing,’” wrote a Rocket Companies spokesperson. Despite this, plaintiff attorneys continue to litter the industry with baseless TCPA claims in hopes of securing quick and lucrative settlements.
“The barrier to file one of these cases is extremely low, but the end result is what really matters. To date, not one single TCPA class has been certified against Rocket Mortgage. This is a clear indication of just how seriously we take our compliance obligations. There is no merit to this case, and we expect a quick and decisive ruling in our favor.”
