Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC Joins the Consolidated Appeal of the FCC’s July 10, 2015 Declaratory Ruling and Order

On September 8, 2015, Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (“PRA”) filed its own petition for review of the FCC’s July 10, 2015 Declaratory Ruling and Order with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. PRA states that it participated in the underlying proceedings by submitting comments to ACA International’s Petition for Rulemaking. Id. at 3. PRA contends that while the purpose of the underlying proceedings was to provide clarity to previous interpretations of various TPCA provisions, the Order disregards the TCPA’s language and intent while unlawfully holding callers to unreasonable standards. Id. Specifically, PRA challenges the Order’s: (1) assertion that “equipment can be an ATDS even if it has none of the statutorily required features,” (2) provision allowing a called party to revoke consent at any time through any reasonable means while callers are prohibited from establishing methods for revocation, and (3) provision imposing strict liability for calls made to reassigned numbers after the first call regardless of whether the caller is aware that the number has been reassigned. Id. As relief, PRA asks the DC Circuit to vacate or reverse the unlawful parts of the Order and remand those parts to the FCC for further action consistent with the court’s findings. Id. at 4.

The deadline for submitting petitions for review has passed, and PRA’s petition has been added to the consolidated appeal pending before the DC Circuit.  As it stands now, the consolidated appeal consists of petitioners ACA International, PACE, SiriusXM, Chamber of Commerce, salesforce.com inc. and ExactTarget, Inc., Consumer Bankers Association, Vibes Media, LLC, Rite Aid Hdqtrs. Corp., and Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.  The consolidated appeal also consists of intervenors MRS BPO, LLC, Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC, Diversified Consultants, Inc., Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, Council of Americans Survey Research Organizations and Marketing Research Association.

John S. Yi

About the Author: John S. Yi

John Yi represents clients in civil and criminal litigations in federal court, as well as investigations and enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other federal and state regulatory bodies. For clients in health care and other sectors, he handles a full array of antitrust issues. John has helped secure merger clearances from federal regulators and defended clients’ interests in suits alleging a variety of anticompetitive conduct. He has assisted companies with internal investigations and compliance strategies. John also has experience handling all aspects of civil litigation, including discovery, settlement, dispositive motions, trial advocacy and appellate work. John also defends a number of class action cases with a wide variety of claims, including issues arising under federal and state antitrust laws, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

©2024 Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP | All Rights Reserved | Attorney Advertising.
Privacy Policy