Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Industry and legal witnesses tell House TCPA private-right-of-action has been abused, driving costly suits
Loading...
Summary
Panelists said the TCPA's private right of action has been exploited by a small number of firms pursuing high-value settlements rather than going after overseas scam perpetrators, and they suggested statutory adjustments modeled on other federal laws.
At the hearing, legal and industry witnesses described how litigation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's (TCPA) private right of action (PRA) has sometimes been used as a profit-making vehicle rather than as a tool to reach overseas scammers. Witnesses said the PRA's structure — including per‑occurrence statutory damages and uncapped attorney fees in some cases — has incentivized mass filing strategies that target domestic businesses rather than the hard‑to‑find foreign fraudsters.
A witness criticized the absence of statutory caps and specific fee limits, noting contrast to other federal statutes. He cited cases where judgments reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars and argued that many suits focus on discovery costs and settlements rather than litigation to deter scammers located abroad.
Several witnesses suggested Congress consider targeted reforms to preserve consumers' ability to sue when legitimately harmed, while preventing predatory ‘‘strike suits.’" Suggested approaches included adopting damage caps similar to HIPAA, tightening standards for automated dialing system definitions, or creating mechanisms that prioritize claims against the true bad actors. Committee members expressed bipartisan interest in protecting legitimate consumer claims while curbing abusive litigation tactics.
No bills were adopted at the hearing; members and witnesses signaled willingness to craft legislative language that balances consumer remedies and abuse prevention.
