Empire Auto Protect Lawsuit: TCPA Default Judgment and Complaints

The Empire Auto Protect lawsuit most often referenced is Misner v. Empire Auto Protect, LLC, a federal case under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that ended in a $10,500 default judgment against the Delaware vehicle service contract company in November 2024. The judgment is one piece of a broader record that includes hundreds of consumer complaints alleging misrepresented coverage, denied repair claims, and obstructed refunds.

The Misner TCPA Lawsuit

Brady Misner filed suit against Empire Auto Protect, LLC on March 8, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleging the company sent unsolicited text messages in violation of 47 U.S.C. § 227. The case was originally docketed as No. 1:24-cv-00117 and transferred within the district to the Eastern Division in Columbus under case number 2:24-cv-1282.¹

Misner initially pled the case as a putative class action on behalf of other consumers who had received similar communications. Empire Auto Protect never appeared or responded. After the court asked how the plaintiff intended to proceed on the class claims against a defaulting defendant, Misner dismissed those class allegations without prejudice, and the court severed them from the case.²

The Default Judgment

On November 6, 2024, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. granted Misner’s motion for default judgment on his individual claims and awarded $10,500 in statutory damages, calculated at $1,500 for each of seven text messages sent in violation of the TCPA, plus post-judgment interest.² The company never entered an appearance in the case.

Collection Through Garnishment

Collecting on the judgment became its own proceeding. In April 2025, Magistrate Judge Chelsey M. Vascura granted Misner’s renewed motion for a writ of garnishment directed at Ozop Capital Partners, Inc., a subsidiary of Ozop Energy Solutions that had signed an October 2024 agreement with Empire Auto Protect to white-label electric and hybrid vehicle service contracts.³⁴ Ozop filed an answer to the writ on April 29, 2025, and the summons was returned executed on May 2, 2025. The docket does not show whether any funds have actually been collected.

What Consumers Are Complaining About

The single lawsuit sits inside a much larger complaint record. As of mid-2026, the Better Business Bureau lists 453 complaints against Empire Auto Protect over the preceding three years, 213 of them filed in the most recent twelve months. The company is not BBB-accredited. Of the total, the company marked 419 as answered, 32 as resolved, and two as unresolved.⁵ On ConsumerAffairs, Empire Auto Protect holds a 1.6 out of 5 rating across 196 reviews, with 82 percent of reviewers giving one star.⁶

Coverage That Doesn’t Match the Sales Pitch

The most frequent complaint is that written contracts do not match what phone sales representatives described. Customers say they were told they were buying “bumper-to-bumper” or “100% coverage” and later found that actual reimbursement was capped at 40 percent of repair costs up to $2,500, or limited to powertrain components. One ConsumerAffairs reviewer said they were sold “elite top coverage” over the phone and received a basic package by mail. Others report that verbally confirmed coverage for specific parts, including hybrid batteries, turned out to be excluded in writing.⁵⁶

Claim Denials

Denials cluster around a handful of stated reasons:

Mileage over an undisclosed threshold, such as 100,000 miles.
Missing or unverifiable maintenance records, including oil change records from before the customer owned the vehicle.
Findings that a failure was pre-existing or caused by fluid leakage.
Wear-and-tear exclusions in contract language customers say was never explained.

Several BBB complainants report that a denied claim was later reversed as a “courtesy” once they filed a formal complaint. One consumer described a $9,000 transmission repair denied on a leakage technicality that was reversed after they alleged fraud through the BBB.⁵

Cancellations and Refunds

Getting a refund is a recurring source of friction. The company references a 30-day cancellation window for full refunds, but consumers report being told that “changing your mind” is not an accepted reason, or that they must submit a written cover letter before the request will be processed. Others describe being unable to reach the cancellation department, being told it was “out to lunch,” or having calls drop after long holds.⁷ Some customers report unauthorized charges continuing after cancellation, including charges for home warranty coverage they never agreed to.⁵

Interactions With Staff

A notable share of complaints describe hostile phone interactions. Consumers report representatives laughing at them, using terms like “sweetie,” and refusing to transfer calls to supervisors.⁵ One ConsumerAffairs reviewer documented a call in which a representative used vulgar language, mockingly told the customer they were being “scammed,” and read the customer’s home address aloud with a threatening remark. That customer filed a police report.⁶

How Empire Auto Protect Responds

In its BBB replies, Empire Auto Protect describes itself as a “broker/administrator” rather than a warranty provider. The company states that claim decisions, eligibility rules, and cancellation and refund policies are set by unnamed third-party providers under the terms of each individual service agreement.⁵ Its privacy policy names finance and payment partners including MEPCO, SPARTA, EFS/Ensurety, and WALCO, and lists Aegis for home warranty administration, but does not name the third parties that actually underwrite or administer the vehicle service contracts sold to consumers.⁸

That broker framing shapes the company’s response to individual disputes. Denials get attributed to the third-party administrator; refund disputes get referred to the third-party provider’s policy. Consumers describe being routed between entities without a clear path to resolution unless they escalate through the BBB or a credit card chargeback.

Company Background

Empire Auto Protect, LLC was incorporated in Delaware on July 13, 2022, at 8 The Green, Suite 11230, Dover, Delaware.⁹ It is led by CEO Robin Kassin and CFO Michael Isaac Kassin. Press materials have described a “17-year track record in the automotive industry,” a reference apparently to the principals rather than to the company itself, which is a 2022 entity.⁴

In February 2023, Robin Kassin announced an intention to list on the New York Stock Exchange, saying the move would let the company “develop, expand, and boost our exposure.”¹⁰ The available record contains no subsequent filings or confirmation that any IPO occurred. In October 2024, the company announced the Ozop Capital Partners agreement to white-label an electric and hybrid product called “Empire Plus.”⁴ That same Ozop entity later became the garnishee in the Misner collection proceedings.

Regulatory Context

The extended auto warranty industry has drawn federal enforcement action against several companies in recent years. In July 2023, the FTC obtained lifetime industry bans and a $6.6 million judgment against the operators of American Vehicle Protection over unsolicited calls that falsely claimed affiliation with vehicle manufacturers.¹¹ In 2024, CarShield and American Auto Shield agreed to pay $10 million to settle FTC allegations that they failed to cover repairs as advertised and used misleading celebrity endorsements.¹²

No FTC or state attorney general action against Empire Auto Protect specifically appears in the public record. The company’s legal exposure to date is limited to the Misner TCPA case and the volume of consumer complaints logged with the BBB and consumer review sites.

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PACER Monitor. Misner v. Empire Auto Protect, LLC
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CaseMine. Misner v. Empire Auto Protect, LLC
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PACER Monitor. Misner v. Empire Auto Protect, LLC
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GlobeNewsWire. Ozop Capital Partners Inc Enters Agreement With Empire Auto Protect
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Better Business Bureau. Empire Auto Protect Complaints
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ConsumerAffairs. Empire Auto Protect
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ConsumerAffairs. Empire Auto Protect Reviews
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Empire Auto Protect. Privacy Policy
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Better Business Bureau. Empire Auto Protect BBB Profile
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Yahoo Finance. Empire Auto Protect Plans Public
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Federal Trade Commission. FTC Action Leads to Industry Bans for Operators of Extended Vehicle Warranty Scam
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The Truth About Cars. Extended Warranty Company Facing Huge FTC Settlement for Deceptive Practices