October 28, 2022. Thousands of consumers who received unwanted telemarketing calls from Berkshire Hathaway brokerage affiliate Intero Real Estate Services can receive $350 each, according to a settlement approved by federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman on October 28, 2022. Under the settlement, Intero is also required to update its practices to prevent future unwanted telemarketing calls, benefitting thousands more consumers.
The class is composed of people whose phone numbers were on the National Do Not Call Registry and who received two or more unwanted phone calls within a 12-month period from Intero and its agents placed through dialing platform Mojo Dialing Solutions LLC. It includes all individuals who used a total of 37,962 telephone numbers that were called by the company and its agents over an approximately 7.5-year period.
“This settlement provides real, substantial relief to people plagued with these persistent, unlawful calls, and we are pleased with the approval,” Partner Sabita Soneji noted. “In addition to the sizeable settlement payments for people who already received these unwanted calls, the settlement mandates that Intero undertake substantial training and compliance efforts to prevent Intero agents from making these unlawful calls in the future.” In approving the settlement, Judge Freeman found that “Class Counsel has demonstrated their thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of this case and their extensive experience” litigating class actions.
The case was Chinitz v. Intero Real Estate Services and is now Mitchell v. Intero Real Estate Services, No. 5:18-cv-05623-BLF in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.