Eleventh Circuit Finds Complaint’s Ambiguity in Number of Calls Received Warrants Remand for Article III Standing Analysis

Recently, the Eleventh Circuit remanded a TCPA suit for the district court to rule on Article III standing, finding that the trial court should have addressed the standing issue because plaintiffs failed to plead the number of telephone calls allegedly received.

Sixteen plaintiffs in Evans v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 21-14045, 2022 WL 17259718 (11th Cir. Nov. 29, 2022), alleged that defendants violated the TCPA by using an Automated Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) to call them.  The complaint included the exact number of calls allegedly received by only eight of the plaintiffs, and stated “that the ‘[e]xact number of calls’” received by the other eight was “‘not confirmed at this point.’”  Id. at *1.  The district court dismissed, concluding that the system at issue was not an ATDS.  The Court of Appeals vacated and remanded, however, finding that the district court failed to address “a significant jurisdiction issue.”  Id.