Class Action Claims LendingClub Secretly Records Calls with Customers

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LendingClub Corporation is on the receiving end of a proposed class action filed by a California man who claims his call from the loan company was recorded without his knowledge or consent. According to the case, LendingClub, as a matter of policy, secretly records all communications with customers and potential customers in violation of California and Massachusetts privacy laws.

The plaintiff says he was contacted by LendingClub on October 3, 2018 in connection with a loan application for the financing of his children’s tutoring. During the phone call, the plaintiff allegedly disclosed sensitive personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers and details about his loan application. At no point during the conversation was the plaintiff informed that the call was being recorded, according to the case.

The lawsuit says that the phone call became “contentious” when the defendant’s representative accused the plaintiff of fraud and the man “regrettably said a number of rude things in response.” The representative subsequently filed a protective order against the plaintiff, a hearing for which was scheduled for February 14, 2019, the complaint states.

At the court hearing, the case says, the LendingClub representative’s attorney played a recording of the phone call with the plaintiff, which the man claims is the first time he was aware the call had been recorded. The suit claims a LendingClub employee then testified that call recording is a matter of the defendant’s policy, admitting that LendingClub records “pretty much anything” that involves an interaction between the company’s employees and customers.

The plaintiff alleges he and likely “hundreds of thousands of people” have been injured by LendingClub’s apparent policy of recording calls without each party’s knowledge or consent. According to the case, such conduct violates state laws in California and Massachusetts, where two of the defendant’s call centers are located.

The lawsuit seeks to cover anyone whose telephone calls with LendingClub were recorded without their knowledge or consent.