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Consumers who received spam cold calls from Coldwell Banker agents are beginning to receive notices in the mail that they’re entitled to a piece of a $20 million settlement of a lawsuit filed in 2019.
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A slate of homeowners who sued the franchiser over alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) agreed to a settlement agreement in the case, a move that would help Coldwell Banker avoid trial while also denying wrongdoing.
As part of the proposed settlement agreement, individuals whose numbers were on the National Do Not Call Registry but who still received two or more marketing calls from Coldwell Banker agents between June 11, 2015, and Dec. 3, 2020, are entitled to a piece of the settlement.
Coldwell Banker and the plaintiffs in the case reached a settlement agreement in December and received preliminary approval last month. Notices began being sent this month. Claimants have until July 3, 2025, to file claims and receive compensation.
The settlement also covers anyone who got a call from a Coldwell Banker agent that included an artificial or prerecorded message between June 11, 2015, and Dec. 3, 2020, according to the website outlining the terms of the settlement agreement.
In the suit, which was first filed in June 2019, the plaintiffs — homeowners Sarah Bumpus of California, Cheryl Rowan of Minnesota and Micheline Peker of Florida — alleged they received, without their consent, unwanted calls from agents affiliated with then-Realogy’s Coldwell Banker brand asking them to list their homes for sale. Rowan and Peker also alleged they received prerecorded messages from Realogy agents.
The plaintiffs alleged the calls and messages violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which prohibits making unsolicited autodialed calls to consumers without their consent, including calls to consumers registered on the National Do Not Call Registry.
The plaintiffs alleged that Realogy’s motivation in allowing its affiliated agents to violate the TCPA was to grow its market share of listings, at least in part to use its market power to raise the prices on the homes it has for sale, “since fewer competing listings can undercut the real estate brokerage with lower home prices.”
Anywhere Real Estate, which owns Coldwell Banker, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the settlement agreement.
A final settlement hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28 in San Francisco. The judge will then decide whether to grant final approval. Members of the class are expected to get approximately $281 each, depending on the number of claimants.
