People v. Alorica Inc.

BACKGROUND

According to the Riverside County District Attorney’s office, in January 2019, the

district attorneys’ offices of the counties of Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa

Clara began investigating Alorica for compliance with the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection

Practices Act (the Rosenthal Act; Civ. Code, § 1788, et seq.) and the Telephone

Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. § 227). (We refer to these district attorneys’ offices

collectively as the People.) In November 2019, the People served Alorica with an

investigative subpoena. The subpoena contained 11 separate document requests and

covered the time period from February 2015 through the date the subpoena was served.

The People directed Alorica to respond by December 13, 2019, and to specify whether

any of the requested records were no longer in Alorica’s “possession, custody or control.”

The People sought the collection services agreements and other agreements

between Alorica and its top five clients as defined on an annual basis by the volume of

consumer debt calls made, by the amount of debt sent for collection, and by the number

of individuals engaged in making such calls (Request No. 2). The…