We’ve all dealt with it. Robocalls, telemarketers, or collection calls on your cell phone. They call at the most inconvenient times and DON’T TAKE NO for an answer! So when the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted to protect individuals and businesses from receiving unsolicited telemarketing efforts, we celebrated!! We were expecting beautiful silence! But then…. RING RING. The saga continued!

What does the TCPA cover?

The TCPA or Telephone Consumer Protection Act was passed into law in 1991, The FCC issued rules and regulations implementing TCPA and it went into effect Dec 20, 1992. It prohibits the use of

• Use of automated dialing equipment and prerecorded messages.
• Telemarketing calls using “live” callers if you are on the DNC Registry
• Facsimile (fax) transmissions.

In 2003 the rules were amended and the creation of the national DO NOT CALL list was established [1].

Do Not Call registry

The National Do Not Call Registry lets you decide whether or not you will receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint on www.donotcall.gov. You can register your home or mobile phone for free [2].

Calls To Cell Phones

Even if you never registered your phone on the DNC directory, callers still need consent to call your cell phone.

What happens if I still receive calls?

If you continue to receive calls after 31 days after registering, or you get calls to your cell phone and you never consented to those calls, you can file a complaint as well as file a lawsuit. You may be able to get as much as 500-1,500 [1] per phone call.

The law offices at Keogh Law, Ltd., in Chicago, Illinois, have helped numerous clients file lawsuits involving TCPA violations and recovered millions of dollars on behalf of consumers. It is important to keep all records of calls, faxes, or texts as evidence in your case. To schedule a free consultation with one of our consumer protection lawyers, please call 866-726-1092 or send us an e-mail now. We handle a majority of our cases on a contingency basis.

[1] Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from http://www.tcpalaw.com/free/what.htm

[2] National Do Not Call Registry. (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from https://www.donotcall.gov/