Today, Judge Dena M. Coggins entered Judgment against Defendants Kasra Sadr, Car Law Firm, The Sadr Law Firm, and Nationwide VIN Marketing ("Defendants") in favor of the plaintiffs in Akkawi, et al. v. Sadr, et al. Case No. 2:20-cv-01034-MCE-AC ("Akkawi"). The Judgment was the product of a Stipulated Judgment entered into between the parties shortly before trial was to commence. Per the terms of the Stipulated Judgment, Kasra Sadr, his law firm, and his data sale enterprise:
- Shall not knowingly obtain, use, or disclose Personal
Information [as defined in the Driver Protection Privacy Act
("DPPA") 18 USC § 2725(3)] or names or residence
addresses [as used in Cal. Veh. Code § 1808.21] from the
California DMV, or sourced from the records of the California DMV,
except if and as permitted under:
- The exemptions located at 18 USC § 2721(b)(1), (b)(4) and Cal. Vehicle Code § 1808.22(d);
- The 'safety' exemption, located at 18 § USC 2721(b)(2).
- Shall retain a record of all marketing or solicitation (see former State Bar Rule 1-400 and Cal. Bus. & Prof. § 6159.1) lists they use for a period of no less than four (4) years of the date of use by Defendants, with each list including the date(s) of its use.
- Shall not obtain or use marketing data from any source of marketing data without inquiring and obtaining documentation that the data was not sourced from the California DMV.
During the litigation of Akkawi, it was discovered that Kasra Sadr claimed to have purchased "marketing lists" from Ryan Bancaya, a citizen of the Philippines, which included California residents' names, addresses, vehicle information, and often included AutoChecks and auction condition reports (usually from Manheim or Adesa) for the identified vehicles. The otherwise confidential Personal Information contained in these marketing lists appeared to have been sourced from the California Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV"). Sometime after the filing of the Complaint in Akkawi, Kasra Sadr claims to have cut ties with Ryan Bancaya, and began directly obtaining California residents' Personal Information from the DMV under the guise of safety and/or recall exemption to the DPPA. That conduct has resulted in several ongoing investigations by various governmental agencies and additional litigation filed as a result of this improper use of DMV data. (See Maracich v. Spears (2013) 570 U.S. 48.)
The Judgment entered in Akkawi should further restrain Kasra Sadr in his use of DMV data. To the extent Kasra Sadr uses DMV data to market to potential clients, please provide that information to Madison Law, APC as that is likely in violation of the Judgment and may subject Kasra Sadr to contempt proceedings. We hope this will not be the case, but given Kasra Sadr's history, we cannot rule out such possibilities. Specifically, if anyone becomes aware that the DMV has issued a notice that an individual's Personal Information (name, address, vehicle) has been released to Kasra Sadr per Cal. Veh. Code § 1808.22, please feel free to report that information to Madison Law, APC. Additionally, if anyone becomes aware of Kasra Sadr soliciting those individuals who have had their Personal Information released to him by the DMV as potential legal clients, please also provide that information to Madison Law, APC. We believe that those actions would be in violation of the Judgment entered in Akkawi.
We thank everyone for their support throughout the litigation of this action and look forward to Kasra Sadr conducting himself as required by California law.
A copy of the Judgment can be found here.
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