DEBT COLLECTOR VIOLATIONS

TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT | TCPA.  Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act original in 19  The TCPA provides that you could be awarded between $500 for each violation and up to $1,500 for each willful violation by a violating caller.  The TCPA encompasses “robocalls” which are defined as  “[phone calls] that [use] a computerized auto-dialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot.”  The law applies to residential landlines, cell phones (calls and texts), and faxes.  The TCPA provides that “it shall be unlawful for an person….to make a call…using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice…to [a pager, cell phone]…[or] to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send…an unsolicited advertisement…unless the unsolicited advertisement is from a sender with an established business relationship” and the fax number was voluntarily provided.  Debt collectors are allowed to make such calls only for the purpose of collecting a debt, subject to the other available laws such as the FDCPA and FCCPA. The call must allow you to “opt out” from receiving future calls in some manner such as by pressing a number.  Often, the “opt out” option is actually used to verify that there is a “fish on the other end” and will result in more calls.  Unfortunately, most robocalls are intended for fraudulent or criminal purposes.  There are permitted computerized messages calls such as school notifications, campaign calls and polling calls.  However, a violation call may initially masquerade as a legitimate call such as when a telemarketer begins the call with a meaningless “poll” which turns into a sales pitch.  Also, the IRS will NEVER call you unless you have requested a call.  Permitted calls NEVER include unsolicited sales calls.  A debt collector or other business may be violating the TCPA if it fails to obtain your written consent, a telephone keypress or a recording of your oral consent before it may make a pre-recorded telemarketing call or text to your mobile phone or call to your residential phone number.   You will know you have received a robocall if you answer the phone to an automated message or hear a period of silence on the phone, a sound and then someone begins speaking (usually with the noise of other callers in the background.)  Beware if you are initially asked a question from an unsolicited caller; the question, such as “Can you hear me?”, will usually be eliciting the answer “yes” which may be recorded and fraudulently used as permission to continue the conversation or contact you again.  Robocallers often use numbers in your area code to increase the likelihood that you will pick-up even though the robocaller is nowhere near your area, state and often, not in the same country.  When robocallers can be tracked and located, they may be required to pay you damages under the TCPA.  Our firm handles these claims on a contingency basis.