Latest / The Consumer Finance Podcast
Are Text Messages Calls? Seventh Circuit's Steidinger Decision Reshapes TCPA Litigation Landscape
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by colleagues Stefanie Jackman and Brian Hays to discuss the Seventh Circuit's landmark July 2026 ruling in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, a unanimous decision holding that text messages do not qualify as "telephone calls" under § 227(c)(5) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), eliminating a private right of action for National Do Not Call Registry violations based solely on text message communications.
The trio unpacks the court's textualist reasoning, which anchored the definition of…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.