A Chadds Ford-based auto loan company agreed to settle claims it robocalled hundreds of thousands of people, but a federal judge refused to approve the agreement, writes Christian Hetrick for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson is questioning whether Flagship Credit Acceptance’s $4 million settlement is “fair and reasonable” to consumers.
The class action lawsuit claims the company bombarded a Georgia man with unwanted messages even though he wasn’t a Flagship customer, using an autodialing system in violation of federal law.
In court filings, the company said it had consumers’ consent to place the calls and argued its dialing systems do not meet the federal definition of an “auto dialer.”
Flagship agreed to pay more than 67,000 consumers across the country about $35 each, according to court filings.
The man’s lawyers would split more than $1.3 million.
Judge Baylson appointed former state Supreme Court Justice Jane Cutler Greenspan to review the settlement.
“Also of concern in this case is the very large amount of attorneys’ fees being sought as a percentage of recovery, compared to the anticipated net return to each class member who filed a claim,” Baylson wrote in a May opinion.
Read more about the settlement here.
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