Jul 25, 2015
you can sue telemarketers 500$ per call?
That's right, under the provision (47 CFR 64.1200 (e)(2)(iii)) which is a provision within the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA)
There's a detailed guide produced by folks of UCAN.ORG which is worth downloading here
This is how it works, when a telemarketer calls you:
Report the number to whycall.me (good for reporting all annoying calls), including the name of the agent that called
Ask the agent to be put on the Do Not Call list (this different from DNC, this list is managed by the company)
Take down the name of the agent who called and request the postal address of the company
Send a certified letter (with a return receipt) demanding to be placed on the company's do not call list (keep a copy along with the return receipt, which you may need to use as proof
Wait 30 days (refer to your original complaint on whycall.me if you forget the date and name of the rep)
Now each time the telemarketer calls you can get $500 by suing them in small claims court (which is pretty easy to do)
Keep in mind that you cannot sue them if you have dealings with the company (existing relationship) or if it's a political organization or charity.
If you think it's a rare occasion for a company to get fined, think again, just look at the list of companies fined for junk faxing (http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/tcd/ufax.html) keep in mind that junk faxing has gone down significantly so instances of telemarketers calling you is much bigger.
Reference sources:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/octqtr/47cfr64.1200.htm
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-153A1.doc
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
http://www.donotcall.gov/
https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx?panel=2
http://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/departments/2002/consumer/0810_consumer_1.html
http://www.the-dma.org/government/donotcalllists.shtml
http://oag.ca.gov/
http://www.consumeraction.gov/utility.shtml