Ryan
A Swanberg has no involvement in the administration or content of
this
site.
This site is simply a repository for public documents and information
related to a public figure, Ryan Swanberg.
Update:
June 20, 2007 ====================================
Another court has acted to shut down Swanberg. This time, it was in
Missouri, and he was ordered to
pay over $20,000 in damages and attorney fees. ====================================
On March 5, 2007, the Federal
District Court in Minnesota issued
injunction
ordering that Ryan Swanberg is "permanently
enjoined
against
citing to or relying upon the TCPA or its regulations as
grounds
upon which to make demands, seek the payment of money
or the
compromise of any claims whatsoever." A copy of the court's order
is here. ====================================
Who
is Ryan Swanberg? If you don't
know, Ryan Alan Swanberg is a self-styled "high-school
dropout" and "career
plaintiff" who has been known to send letters and e-mails to various
companies around the country, and threatening to sue them under the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). Indeed, he has
published a book, LAWSUIT:
How
I Turned the Tables On Telemarketers & Debt Collectors,
which he advertised "outlines many 'baiting' and 'fishing' techniques
used against the
unsuspecting collector or telemarketer, to gain standing for a
lawsuit." One commenter on his blog, however, described him as
"just another money-hungry jerk--just as bad as the telemarketers."
The Backlash Swanberg's
activities have run into what can only be called a
trainwreck. At least two courts have entered judgments against
him for his threats of lawsuits. The latest is the federal
district court in Minnesota which entered an injunction on March 5,
2007. That injunction bars Swanberg from "citing
to or
relying upon the TCPA or its regulations as grounds upon which to make
demands, seek the payment of money or the compromise of any claims
whatsoever." Still more suits are
pending against Ryan
Swanberg. Results will be posted here as soon as they are
obtained.
What to do
if you are contacted
by Ryan Swanberg threatening a TCPA lawsuit? Contact your
attorney, and be sure to provide your attorney a copy of
this court order and this second court order
enjoining Ryan
Swanberg from making such demands.
Various
Websites Ryan Swanberg
has material on several websites, including:
Further
Information It appears that
Ryan Swanberg believes that when he gets sued by these
companies, he can ignore the suits because he thinks they are invalid,
and he thinks that the people who win these suits against him will
violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in trying to collect on
their suits. If you have a judgment against Ryan Swanberg and
intend to collect on it, be extra careful.
Avoid
the Trap. <http://www.acainternational.org/media.aspx?cid=6855>
Hold
that Call. <http://www.mirealtors.com/news/realtor/documents/DNCmarch07.pdf>
Why is he
wrong? We were informed
that attorneys have told Ryan Swanberg in writing as
early as January 2006 (if you know of an earlier letter, please contact
us), that his threatened TCPA lawsuits against out-of-state companies
that have never called him are without merit. Those attorneys
informed him in writing that he 1) lacks the requisite "more than one
call in any 12-month period" to enable the private right of action in
the TCPA, and that he has no basis for personal jurisdiction of a
Minnesota court over an out-of-state company that has never made a
telemarketing call into Minnesota.
