PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Those annoying calls from telemarketers and debt collectors could be worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
I bet nearly every one of you reading this can remember a time when a company has sent you an unwanted text or unsolicited cell phone call about a product or service.
Maybe it was a debt collection company blowing up your cell phone looking for someone else, or calling about a debt you don't owe.
When collection agencies hounded Local 10 viewer Andrea Gesten for debts she did not owe, she hired legal counsel and found out she could be entitled to thousands of dollars.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) establishes rules companies have to follow before they call you. If they violate them, you can collect between $500-$1,500 per unwanted call.
Web Extra: How much could I be owed?
"I get phone calls, collection calls for people that aren't me, and they keep calling and calling and calling and leaving messages," Gesten said. "Sometimes it's no times a day, sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes it happens twice a day, three times a day."
The automated calls filled her voice mail and would not stop even after she told them they had the wrong number.
"Different collection agencies -- it's never once for me," Gesten said. "It's very annoying and it's frustrating and it's disturbing and it's unnecessary."
South Florida consumer protection attorney Scott Owens informed her that these companies "were illegally calling (her) cell phone and (she) could be compensated for that. Those calls are unlawful and you may be entitled to $500 up to $1,500 per call."
Telephone Consumer Protection Act:
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established rules addressing "robocalling" or unsolicited automated messages used by telemarketers in 1991. The Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls Guide on the FCC website lists three rules all telemarketers must follow:
1. "Anyone making a telephone solicitation call must provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number of address at which that person or entity can be contacted
2. Telephone solicitation calls are prohibited before 8 am or after 9 pm.
3. Telemarketers must comply immediately with any do-not-call request you make during a solicitation call."
"Many people thought that it didn't apply to debt collectors, but the FCC clarified in 2008 that indeed debt collectors fall under the statute," Owens said. "So for the last several years, there's been a rush to file these types of lawsuits in order to protect consumer rights. Vast majority of the cases we've filed, we've recovered money for our clients. In one case, as much as $250,000 for a client who received calls for over a year originally intended for someone else."
According to Owens, debt collection agencies use a flawed system when trying to contact someone and retrieve money and the system explains why Gesten received calls intended for another individual.
"Debt collectors often use this system called "skip tracing" in order to locate the intended target of the calls," he said. "Often they get the wrong number and even though they don't know they have the right number, they program it none-the-less into their auto-dialer to make volume-type calling. In Florida, we live in a very transient state. And people come here and they get a new phone number and the last person to have that phone number may not have paid their bills and when you turn on the phone and you start getting calls for the last person, those calls are unlawful and you may be entitled to $500 up to $1,500 per call. And you're also entitled to what's called Junctive Relief meaning that you can get a court order forcing the caller to stop calling you."
Owens provides a guide on his website to help consumers better understand their rights under the TCPA. (scottdowens.com)
1. "The TCPA protects consumers from receiving auto-dialed or pre-recorded messages on their cell phone unless the consumer has provided their prior express consent (it also covers text message spam).
2. The most common violators of the TCPA are debt collectors, banks and telemarketers.
3. If you have previously provided your cell phone to a creditor or debt collector and are receiving calls on your cell phone, you can always revoke any prior consent to receiving calls (it is best to do so via certified mail).
4. Always save your voice mails and have them reviewed by a consumer attorney for potential violations of the TCPA (and other federal laws).
5. Just because you hear a "live" voice is at the other end of the cellphone, the call still may have been made with an auto-dialer.
6. If you are beginning to receive pre-recorded calls or calls made from an auto-dialer, start keeping a written log of the calls and request/save your records from your cell phone provider.
7. If you are receiving calls on your cell phone for someone else's debt, you may very likely have a claim under the TCPA (note: this also includes calls from banks or debt collectors looking for a friend or family member).
8. If at all possible avoid giving out your cell phone number altogether; alternatively, if you can afford to do so, maintain two cell phones — one public, one private."
How to protect yourself under the TCPA:
There are a few specific steps to take when encountering these "robocalls."
First, get the collector's or company's name and ensure the callers know they do not have your consent to continue calling.
"You simply can tell the debt collector, telemarketer, bank, whomever it is that's using a prerecorded call or an ATDS generated call, you need only say, 'stop calling me,'" Owens said. "The second you tell them to stop calling they cannot use a prerecorded call or an ATDS generated call to lay up your cell phone."
Second, file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and register with the National Do-Not-Call Registry. In 2003, the FCC and the FTC established this registry to increase consumer protection. According to the FCC website, "callers are prohibited from making telephone solicitations to those numbers" after 31 days of being on the registry.
The National Do Not Call Registry does not limit calls by political organizations, charities, or telephone surveyors.
National Do Not Call Registry: As of October 1, 2003, it became illegal for most telemarketers or sellers to call a number listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Click here to file a complaint with the FTC.
Click here to file a complaint with the FCC.
FCC: Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls Consumer Guide
Relief from robocallers infographic
Finally, you may consider contacting a consumer protection lawyer like Getsen did.
"We're certainly prepared to go the distance if need be, to go to trial, but it's been my experience that most of these cases are resolved through mediation," Owens said. Under the counsel of Owens, Getsen reached a settlement.
TCPA In The News:
Guess can't shake text messages TCPA claims
American Express forced to defend TCPS class action over debt collection calls it didn't make
Bebe loses bid to have TCPA suit wait on FCC
Life Time Fitness reaches possible $15 million settlement in TCPA class action suit