Brill v. Countrywide Home Loans

Countrywide Home Loans violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. §227, by sending fax advertisements. James Brill, one of the recipients, filed suit in state court, seeking to represent a class of recipients. Countrywide filed a notice of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4 (2005). Brills suit was commenced after February 18, 2005, the Acts effective date. The class comprises more than 100 members, minimal diversity of citizenship is present, and Countrywide alleged in the notice of removal that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, the statutory threshold. Countrywide concedes that it sent at least 3,800 unsolicited advertising faxes, and §227(b)(3) provides that the court may award $500 per fax, a sum that may be trebled if "the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection". The award thus could reach $5.7 million. If Brill can show that Countrywide sent more than the 3,800 junk faxes, it could be higher still. Yet the district judge remanded the case, ruling not only that Countrywide had not carried its burden of showing that the stakes exceed $5 million (Brill might be unable to prove willfulness) but also that suits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act never may be removed, because state jurisdiction is exclusive. 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19664 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 8, 2005). Countrywide has filed a petition for interlocutory review under 28 U.S.C. §1453(c)(1) (as amended by the Class Action Fairness Act). We grant this petition, accept the appeal, and summarily reverse.