Nissan captive agrees to pay $2.2 million to settle robocall suit

Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the lender of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by calling noncustomer cellphones without consent, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. As many as 10,000 individuals could have been affected.

According to court documents, Nissan Motor Acceptance was trying to contact customers indebted to the lender, but instead contacted third parties, such as family members.

"Plaintiffs allege that Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation used its auto-dialer to place those calls and conveyed prerecorded messages to third parties who had not consented to receive such calls," according to the 25-page preliminary approval for a motion for settlement filed March 18.

Nissan Motor Acceptance said it contacted only third parties whose numbers had been provided as contact numbers by its borrowers.

"In the event the customer falls behind, NMAC initiates calls to the available numbers on that customer's account -- which may include those of third parties," the motion said.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1991, prohibits robocalls without the receiving party's consent, unless "such calls are necessary in an emergency situation affecting the health and safety of the consumer."

According to the complaint filed March 24, 2016, Nissan Motor Acceptance obtained the cellphone numbers of those listed on the suit as a reference for or an acquaintance of one of their borrowers. The plaintiffs, and every putative class-action member, "did not consent, either expressly or by implication, at any time whatsoever, to allow NMAC to call them at the number assigned to their cellular telephone," according to the complaint.

The captive lender filed a motion to dismiss the first complaint, which was denied Nov. 17, 2016. The motion alleges that the plaintiffs couldn't prove that the calls were made by an automated device and not "human fingers."

"NMAC denies all allegations, but has agreed to settle this lawsuit with the Plaintiffs to avoid future litigation costs," a Nissan Motor Acceptance spokeswoman said in a statement to Automotive News.

Nissan Motor Acceptance maintained that contacting noncustomers to collect on customer accounts was not a general practice and only contacted numbers that had been provided by its customers, according to the suit.

Moreover, Nissan Motor Acceptance claimed it was impossible to identify any noncustomers inadvertently contacted through debt collection efforts based on its records.

Each of the three plaintiffs -- Aram Terteryan, Tatyana Davtyan and Marine Davtyan -- could receive $10,000 in incentive awards paid out of the settlement fund. Other members of the class could receive between $75 to $250 from the fund.

Auto dealerships are also subject to Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits. In December, Grieco Ford of Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit over unsolicited marketing calls.