Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

Bothersome and harassing phone calls and texts to our cell phones are, unfortunately, now a way of life for all of us, even for the former director of the FBI (and the calls he received were worse than most).  For the crazy threats of arrest, jail, and worse type of calls, just hang up on the call immediately and don’t engage and, of course, do not ever give out any personal information.  These troll calls are not worth your time, so make sure your cell number is registered on the Do Not Call registry.

Also, keep a hard copy of the proof that you registered your number on the Do Not Call list. You can also report the call at that site. Finally, make sure that you block the phone number as soon as you know it is one of these disturbing spam calls.

What is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)?

The consumer law that is attractive for consumers who get calls from “legitimate” businesses is called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, also referred to as the “TCPA.” This blog post will discuss your rights regarding unsolicited and harassing phone calls, facsimiles, and SMS text messages from debt collectors and telemarketers.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA) governs the conduct of telemarketers and, often debt, collectors. The TCPA restricts the use of automatic telephone dialing systems (also known as “auto-dialers” or “predictive dialers”), artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages, as well as the use of fax machines to send unsolicited advertisements. A consumer is unlikely to know whether a call to his or her cellular telephone was initiated using an auto dialer, as they often will sound like any other phone call. A call initiated using an autodialer may, in fact, have a live person on the other end.

However, keep this in mind: in order for a debt collector or telemarketer to maintain a volume operation, they must make thousands of telephone calls each day. So, if you are getting calls from a debt collector or telemarketer on your cellular telephone, there is a very good chance that they are violating the TCPA.

In accordance with the TCPA, consumers are entitled to collect damages ranging from $500 to $1,500 for each unlawful call, fax, or text message. Remember to always save your voicemails and have them reviewed by a consumer attorney for potential violations of the TCPA (and other federal laws).

Common TCPA Violation Examples

Examples of common TCPA violations include:

Unless a consumer has previously given express consent, it is generally a violation of the TCPA for a business to engage in any of the following conduct:

• Debt collector and/or telemarketing calls made to your cellular telephone, which were initiated by the use of an auto dialer.
• Debt collector and/or telemarketing calls made to your cellular telephone, which were initiated by an artificial voice or a prerecorded message.
• Sending unwanted fax messages, which solicit or promote a business (i.e. junk faxes).
• Sending unwanted business advertisements via text messages to your cellular telephone.

How to Deal with TCPA Violations

Here are some tips to help us help you in dealing with these violations under the TCPA:

1. Answer the phone as much as possible when you get these types of calls. Please then keep a copy of all the phone bills you receive as this will allow the incoming call from the robocaller to appear on your phone bill.
2. Google (put the phone number in the search box) and research whoever is calling you to try to get as much information about them as possible. If you do a Google search, that should take you to various complaint sites in which you can try to find out who the caller is. Take screenshots and digital photos of the specific caller id showing the date, time and phone number of the phone call and do this for every call or text.
3. Keep all of the voice messages and unsolicited text messages or Junk Faxes that you receive and, if you can, digitize and save them to your computer so you have them.  Also, do not delete them from your cell phone.
4. As stated above, keep phone bills and records and make a note of the incoming calls from the callers who are violating this law. Keep a log of the date of the call, time of the call, caller’s identity and a brief description of what the caller said to you and what you said to the caller.
5. If you have previously given consent to be contacted on your cell phone, you have the right to revoke that consent.  To revoke consent, it is best to do so in writing and make sure you have proof that you emailed, mailed, texted or faxed revocation of consent.  These are strong TCPA cases where people have been contacted after revocation of consent.

Contact Us for Help Today

Our lawyers handle cases under the TCPA.  If you are receiving unsolicited and unwanted calls and text messages to your cell phone, please contact our office nearest to you and set up a free consultation with one of our licensed attorneys to see how we can help you.