Robo Calls & Text Messages
Unsolicited calls and text messages have become a regular annoyance of your life.
Whether it be debt collection calls or a barrage of marketing text messages, businesses are generating an increasingly large number of communications for fractional costs, thanks to technologies like auto-dialers. Fortunately, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and various state counterpart laws like Florida’s FTSA and North Carolina’s Telephone Solicitation chapter have been enacted to curb these practices by prohibiting certain types of calls to consumers.
The TCPA prohibits auto-dialed calls and prerecorded messages to cellular telephones that are made without the consumer’s consent. Telemarketers are required to obtain written consent before placing certain calls. The TCPA applies to both telephone calls as well as to text messages that are sent to cell phones. All telemarketing calls to a cell phone whether prerecorded or auto-dialed are prohibited without your express written consent. At any time, you may revoke your consent and the marketer is required to put you on their own internal do not call list.
The TCPA provides consumers with a powerful means of legal recourse to these violating calls. Consumers may file a lawsuit for each violation of the act. You may be able to recover $500 for each call, fax or text which violates the TCPA. These amounts can be tripled to $1,500 if the call was a willful violation of the law. Each state counterpart law has comparable damages to the federal TCPA. If you are receiving calls or texts in violation of the TCPA, you should keep a written record of the contact and tell the caller to stop. A best practice is to take a screenshot of the call or text. Finally, register your phone on the state and federal Do Not Call lists.
Marcus & Zelman has a wealth of experience representing people who have received unwanted class and texts nationwide, and we are here to help you assess any potential lawsuits you may be able to bring.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the TCPA) is a powerful law that is meant to prevent robocalls, pre-recorded voice messages, and unsolicited text messages. If a company places calls in violation of that law, you may be entitled to $500-$1,500 for each and every call. Additionally, numerous states have their own state laws for these types of violations, such as the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (the FTSA), with their own requirements and statutory damages for each call or text.
The TCPA prohibits ANY call or prerecorded voice message made through an auto-dialer to a person’s cell phone, unless that person first gave permission to be called. The law applies to telemarketers, banks, collection agencies, credit card companies, and any other company that uses an auto-dialer to make these calls. Most state laws mirror the requirements of the TCPA, while some have ever higher standards requiring “express written consent” before a person is called or texted.
Yes. The TCPA requires companies to regularly maintain and abide by an internal do not call list of those people who have requested not to be contacted. If you’ve told a company not to continue contacting you and they have not listened, you may be entitled to recover damages for each and every message or call after you requested that they stop.
Yes. If the text message was sent with an autodialer, you may be able to obtain a monetary recovery for each and every message.
No. If you are on the DNC Registry and receive more than one telemarketing call within a year from a telemarketer, you can likely sue that caller for monetary compensation of up to $1500.
Yes. Political campaigns are sued all the time for robocalling people. The election campaigns for both President Obama and President Trump have both been sued for robodialing voters without their consent.
Yes. The law protects everyone, regardless if you owe money or not. If you don’t want to be called, tell the caller to stop calling you. If the calls don’t stop, you likely can sue the caller for damages.
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