So Tree and I have buried the hatchet and are friends again– in fact, Lending Tree will be speaking at Law Conference of Champions III, how awesome is that!

But the BEST way to get on the Czar’s good side is to deliver huge industry-helping TCPA wins, and that is EXACTLY what Tree just did and I LOVE TO SEE IT.

In Sapan v. LendingTree, 8:23-cv-00071 (C.D. Cal March 18, 2025) the Court just entered judgment in favor of Tree finding it cannot be held responsible for calls made by affiliates in its pay per call program. Absolutely MASSIVE win,

The ruling turned on vicarious liability principles and applied the critical case of Jones v. Royal Administration Services, Inc., 887 F.3d 443 (9th Cir. 2018), which is the primary Ninth Circuit authority on the issue.

Under Jones a party must control the injury-causing conduct to be liable for calls. And where a party is making calls that may be transferred to any number of buyers the party that happens to buy that call simply cannot be held liable for the transfer.

In light of that authority the Sapan found Tree was not liable because it did not directly control the caller and the mere fact it accepted a transfer is not dispositive.

Excellent result– and undoubtedly the correct one!

This is an important ruling for folks to keep in mind. A ton of litigation arises following lead gen third-party transfers and folks buying leads on non-exclusive campaigns should be citing this case!