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TCPA Class Action 'Must Be Dismissed' for Failure to State a Claim, Says LoanDepot

LoanDepot seeks the dismissal of plaintiff Lee Abrahamian’s first amended Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action for failure to state a claim (see 2308040031), said its motion Monday (docket 2:23-cv-00728) in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. Abrahamian seeks…

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damages for the “illegal and unlawful” text messages and calls that loanDepot made to his cellphone number, claiming the number has been listed on the national do not call registry since October 2007. But loanDepot argues the complaint "must be dismissed" because Abrahamian failed to allege he “personally listed his number” on the national DNC registry, said the motion. Under the statute's plain language, the mere fact that a number is listed on the DNC registry isn’t enough “to give a plaintiff a claim,” it said. A plaintiff must have actually registered the number on the DNC registry him or herself, it said. He also doesn’t allege whether he answered the two calls at issue, it said. He therefore can‘t “establish the content or purpose of those calls which is dispositive of his claims,” it said. A plaintiff can recover only for marketing calls, and a single text message alone “is not actionable” under the TCPA, it said. In light of recent 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent, Abrahamian’s class claims for violation of the TCPA “must fail for lack of alleged facts plausibly demonstrating a recovery of aggregated damages is permissible in this action,” it said.