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"Computerized calls are
the scourge of modern civilization. ... It
is telephone terrorism and it has got to
stop." Those are the words of
Senator Hollings back in 1991 when the
Senate was considering ways to protect
people from robocalls and telemarketers.
The federal Telephone
Consumer Protection Act protects
you from many robocalls to your cell
phone.
The law generally
prohibits:
- calls and text messages sent to your
cell phone;
- without your consent;
- when the caller uses an artificial or
prerecorded voice;
- or when the caller uses an automated
telephone dialing system.
However, there is a
recent exception for calls made after
November 1, 2015 for the purpose of
collecting a debt owed to or guaranteed by
the United States government.
Many debt collection calls are made using an
automated dialing system, and many such
calls also use a recorded voice. For
either of those types of calls, the question
is usually whether the recipient consented
to receive these types of calls.
Consent
"Consent" more or less means that you agreed
to the calls. If the calls are to try
to collect on a debt, then maybe there was
language in a credit agreement about
consent. The good news for victims of
robocalls is that you can revoke your
consent. Usually that means that you
can simply demand that the robocalls
stop. It may be a good idea to revoke
consent in a way that you can easily prove
later, like sending a fax, email with a
return receipt, or a certified letter to the
caller. However, in most cases, if you
clearly state during a phone call with the
caller that you don't want them to call you
any more, that should be enough. When
you revoke consent, make sure that you give
the caller your cell phone number, so that
they can identify who it is that they should
stop calling. If the caller has given
you a reference number or account number,
you should include that information as
well. But of course, you should not
give a caller sensitive personal
information, like your social security
number.
Lawsuits
against Robocallers
In an appropriate
case, robocall victims can sue the
caller for violating the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act. If you are harmed
by illegal robocalls, you may recover
actual damages. Examples of possible
recoveries include amounts for physical
illness, mental illness, lost wages, and
costs of getting a different phone
number, if those things are caused by
the illegal debt collection.
Consumers may also recover compensation
for non-economic harm such as shock,
worry, stress, and aggravation.
Even if there was no
actual harm, you may recover $500.00 for
violations of the TCPA, because Congress
wanted to encourage people to file
appropriate cases to beef up enforcement
of the law. If the caller
acted wilfully or knowingly, you might
recover up to three times your damages, or
$1,500.00. These damages apply to
each call that violates the law, if you
prove your case.
Some people are
comfortable filing their own case against
robocallers. If you choose to do
that, make sure you become familiar with
all the court rules, statutes, FCC rulings
and court decisions, all of which can
affect the outcome of your case.
If you would rather
have an attorney represent you, contact an
attorney licensed in your State who is
familiar with this area of the law.
In Ohio, attorney Greg Reichenbach will be
happy to talk to you about unwanted
robocalls, in a no-cost initial
consultation. In appropriate cases,
an attorney can be paid from the proceeds
of a law suit.
More detailed information can be found
from the FCC at this Link:
Rules
and Resources for Dealing with Unwanted
Calls and Texts
Keep in mind that this
is just general information about the law
about robocalls. There is much more to
this area of the law. If you have a
specific legal problem, contact an
attorney to see if she or he can represent
you.
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419-529-8300