Second Circuit Holds Consumers Cannot Revoke Consent Given As Consideration In Bilateral Contract In TCPA Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a consumer who agrees to be contacted via telephone call or text messages as bargained-for consideration in a bilateral contract cannot subsequently revoke his or her consent in Reyes v. Lincoln Automotive Financial Services, Case No. 16-2104 (2nd Cir. June 22, 2017). Reyes is a significant win for the defense bar as it may reduce liability under the TCPA for transactional messages sent by businesses to consumers that have a "consent" provision in their consumer agreements.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act

The TCPA of 1991 makes it "unlawful... to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send, to a telephone, facsimile machine, an unsolicited advertisement...." 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C). The TCPA generally prohibits making nonemergency, unsolicited calls advertising "property, goods, or services" using automatic dialing systems and prerecorded messages to telephones and