Cell Phone Abuse / TCPA

Annoyed by Robocalls and Spam Texts?
Make Callers Pay You Up to $1,500 Per Call or Text

The phone rings as you’re sitting down to dinner. Your cell phone buzzes while you’re behind the wheel. You’re on the phone with your child’s teacher when call waiting beeps in. When you answer the phone, you hear a pre-recorded voice on the line. It’s another robocall.

Maybe it’s not your phone that rings. Instead, maybe the ping of a text message wakes you up at night. Perhaps it distracts you from an important conversation or – worse yet – from the traffic stopped in front of you.

Telemarketers, debt collectors, and others routinely use pre-recorded messages and automated dialers (“robocalls”). After all, having a computer program dial your number and play a recorded message means that these companies don’t have to pay staff to do the dialing and the talking. But this doesn’t mean that you have to endure the hassle of robocalls. In fact, there are laws and regulations that protect you from robocalls.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was designed to protect you from fielding unwanted calls and annoying text messages. Federal Communications Commission regulations and the TCPA lay out the rules of the road. Here’s what you need to know:

• Which Robocalls are Covered? Cell phone robocalls from businesses – whether from companies trying to sell you a product or service or from debt collectors trying to contact you – are covered.
• Written Consent is Required. Commercial businesses can only place robocalls to you if you have provided written consent. Consent can be provided electronically, so read the fine print before you submit your contact information on a web form.
• The Do-Not-Call Registry. Telemarketers cannot call your number if 31 days have passed since you registered it with the National Do-Not-Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov). You can register both landlines and cell phone numbers.

• Opting Out. FCC regulations say that robocalls must provide an opt-out mechanism. In other words, the robocall should give you the choice of pressing a number on your keypad to be removed from the caller’s list.

Cell Phone Robocall and Spam Text Violations

When telemarketers and debt collectors robocall or spam text your cell phone and violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, you can sue them in court. If you win, you can receive up to $500 per call – or triple that if they knowingly and willfully violated the TCPA.

If any of these situations apply to you, Krieger Law Group may be able to sue the robocaller or collection agency on your behalf:

• You didn’t give the robocaller consent to call your cell phone
• The robocall did not offer you a mechanism for opting out of future robocalls
• You opted out of future robocalls, but the company continued call or text your cell phone

Krieger Law Group Can Help

If you suspect that your Telephone Consumer Protection Act rights have been violated, Krieger Law Group can help. We will guide you every step of the way. Because the TCPA says that those who violate the law must pay our fees, our representation is absolutely free. The TCPA allows you to recover statutory damages of between $500 and $1,500 per call or text. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by contacting Krieger Law Group for a free case evaluation.