Telephone Consumer Protection Act Violations – TCPA

Have You Received Unwanted, Unsolicited or Harassing Telephone, Telemarketing, Autodial or Robocalls and/or Text Messages?

Recently, a number of class action lawsuits have been filed against companies alleging telemarketing and debt collection calls and practices that violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227  (“TCPA”).  Enacted in 1991, the TCPA places restrictions on making telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems or prerecorded or artificial voice messages.  It also provides for statutory damages.

Federal Communications Commission & TCPA

According to the Federal Communications Commission, the TCPA requires the following:

For telemarketing calls:

• Requires anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home to provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which that person or entity can be contacted.
• Prohibits telephone solicitation calls to homes before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Requires telemarketers to comply immediately with any do-not-call request made during a call.

For robocalls/texts:

• Requires a consumer’s permission, regardless of any existing relationship, before a robocall/text can be made to a wireless phone. These calls can include political, polling, and other non-telemarketing robocalls.
• Allows consumers to take back their permission to be called or texted in any reasonable way.
• Consent to be called or texted cannot be a condition of a sale or other commercial transaction.
• Requires callers to update their lists after dialing a wrong number the first time.

TCPA & The National Do-Not-Call Registry

The TCPA also established the National Do-Not-Call Registry that covers all telemarketers (with the exception of certain non-profit organizations), applies to both landline and wireless phones, as well as interstate and intrastate calls.

What Can I Do If I Believe My Rights Have Been Violated?

If you have received unwanted, unsolicited or harassing telephone, telemarketing, autodial or robocalls and/or text messages and would like to speak privately with an attorney to learn more about your potential legal rights, please complete the form to the right or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected]; John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected]; or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a multidisciplinary, plaintiff–side law firm dedicated to protecting investors and consumers from corporate fraud, negligence, and other wrongdoing. Driven by a strong and principled sense of social responsibility and obtaining justice for the aggrieved, Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. represents plaintiffs seeking to recover investment losses resulting from securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, corporate wrongdoing or malfeasance, those harmed by anticompetitive practices, and consumers victimized by fraud, false claims, deception or data breaches.  Together, the partners of the Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. have spent more than 30 years prosecuting precedent-setting securities and financial fraud cases in federal and state courts on behalf of institutional and individual clients.