‘Career Plaintiff’ at the Ready for Telemarketers
Banks beware: If anyone asks for the do-not-call policy, give it to them.
Hundreds of banks, along with other companies, have been threatened with lawsuits by a man in Apple Valley, Minn., for not sending do-not-call policies upon demand.
Federal regulations require any company that solicits business by telephone to present a written description of its procedures for taking people off its telemarketing lists even if it has never called the person demanding the policy.
But Ryan Swanberg is making a career of calling companies, requesting do-not-call policies, and threatening to sue those that do not comply in small-claims court in Dakota County, Minn.
John D. ReVeal, a partner at Powell Goldstein LLP in Washington, said a handful of his bank clients in the Southeast received Mr. Swanberg’s demand letters. They opted to settle, typically for less than $5,000. “Who wants to go to Minnesota to fight it?” he said.
Mr. Swanberg has just written “Lawsuit: How I Turned the Tables on Telemarketers and Debt Collectors,” in which he describes how he’s become a “career plaintiff.”
According to editorial reviews on Amazon.com, Mr. Swanberg claims in his book that he makes more than $100,000 a year suing companies that either do not send their do-not-call policies, or do not take him off their telemarketing lists upon demand. (He also says he routinely enters marketing sweepstakes to get on as many telemarketing lists as possible.)
When asked to be interviewed for this article, Mr. Swanberg said by e-mail that he would only do it for a fee.
“It doesn’t behoove me to appease any audience (banking or otherwise) by doing an interview without compensation,” he wrote. “I’m sorry, but business trumps just ‘getting my side of the story’ out to the banking industry.”
American Banker does not pay for interviews.
“Clearly this is a pervasive effort by someone who is abusing a well-intended law,” said James Rockett, co-chairman of the financial institutions group at Bingham McCutchen LLP, a law firm in San Francisco. Mr. Rockett said that numerous California banks have received Mr. Swanberg’s letters; none of his bank clients intend to settle, he said.
State trade groups such as the California Bankers Association, the Georgia Bankers Association, and the Tennessee Bankers Association have issued alerts to their members advising them to develop written policies and be prepared to send them out.
Consumer advocates ought to be able to sue companies if they break the rules, “but it’s highly unlikely that this person has donated a penny to any cause,” and more likely “that he’s just doing it for his own income,” Mr. ReVeal said. “I just don’t believe that’s how Congress envisioned this law to be used.”
Mr. ReVeal said that his firm may ask Congress or federal regulators to change do-not-call rules, or at least set a reasonable time frame for companies to comply with requests. The rules do not set a deadline for complying with requests, but Mr. Swanberg threatens to sue companies that fail to send their policies within five days.
