How to Sue a Robocaller for $500 (and Up to $1,500) Per Call
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Home About Your Rights About Collectors About Us Who is Calling You? Blog Media Videos We turn the tables and make debt collectors pay YOU! Sitemap Terms of Use HOME > MEDIA > HOW TO SUE A ROBOCALLER FOR $500 (AND How To Sue A Robocaller For $500 (And Up To $1,500) Per Call Here’s the text of the Hartford Courant story: January 18, 2014 By Kevin Hunt Paula Bazydlo Bleck, like a lot of homeowners, is tired of robocalls from telemarketers. Her worst robo-nightmare includes regular recorded calls from a power-washing business that are, so far, unstoppable. “Despite being on the Do Not Call [Registry] list,” says Bleck, a Wethersfield resident, “we have been receiving these for years. . . . Filing complaints with the Do Not Call Registry, the state and the FCC doesn’t seem to have any effect. Is there nothing we can do to stop this guy?” If you can find him, take him to court. New rules effective last Oct. 16 in an update to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act have given consumers new powers against telemarketers. >> All telemarketing calls, except those manually dialed that do not contain a recorded message, are now prohibited without the consumer’s prior written consent. (The rule also applies to calls made to cellphones and text messages.) >> The established-business-relationship exemption has been eliminated. Until mid-October, if a consumer purchased something, or perhaps opened a credit-card account, that relationship allowed telemarketing calls from the business without the consumer’s consent. Not anymore. Penalties for failing to comply with TCPA regulations remain unchanged. It’s $500 for every unsolicited call or text message, $1,500 if the telemarketer “willfully or knowingly” sends it after the consumer opts out. The new rules should only add to an already burgeoning number of lawsuits. “Don’t take it on the chin,” says Sergei Lemberg, a consumer attorney in Stamford. “A lot of times people take it on the chin for reasons unclear. There’s a law that protects people. They should know about it. To telemarketers, this [TCPA update] is a humongous difference.” TCPA-related lawsuits increased close to more than 60 percent in 2013, according to preliminary statistics from WebRecon, which tracks U.S. district court cases, to 1,781 cases from 1,101 in 2012. Two years ago, says Lemberg, his firm handled only a small number of telemarketing cases. Now they represent half the firm’s caseload. Lemberg says a 2012 Supreme Court decision that allows TCPA cases in federal courts, not only in state courts, has made it easier to track down and collect penalties from telemarketers. “If I sue a telemarketer in federal court,” says Lemberg, “I’m going to hit them up for $500 to $1,500 a call. I’m going to get a judgment against them, assuming they are viable. I register that judgment in the federal district court where they are located and I go ahead and do what people do with a judgment — lien the business property, bank accounts, whatever.” TCPA regulations apply to all telemarketers, not only catch-me-if-you-can scammers. Last year, before the TCPA update, Bank of America agreed to pay $32 million to settle claims Start Free Legal Consultation Fill out form: Select State Your information is kept 100% confidential. We do not spam or sell your information. BBB Rating: A+ Find out how we can help you stop debt collector harassment "The FDCPA is a consumer protection statute and was intended to permit, even encourage, attorneys like Lemberg to act as private attorney generals to pursue FDCPA claims." U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Evon v. Law Offices of Sidney Mickell Get Free Legal Help Get Free Legal Help Call for a Free Consultation How To Sue A Robocaller For $500 (And Up To $1,500) P... http://stopcollector.com/media/how-to-sue-a-robocaller-fo... 1 of 4 2/6/14 10:00 AM
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Useful how-to information and Lawyerly Assistance on how to sue robocallers.
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HOME > MEDIA > HOW TO SUE A ROBOCALLER FOR $500 (AND
How To Sue A Robocaller For $500 (And UpTo $1,500) Per CallHere’s the text of the Hartford Courant story:
January 18, 2014By Kevin Hunt
Paula Bazydlo Bleck, like a lot of homeowners, is tired of robocalls from telemarketers. Herworst robo-nightmare includes regular recorded calls from a power-washing business thatare, so far, unstoppable.
“Despite being on the Do Not Call [Registry] list,” says Bleck, a Wethersfield resident, “wehave been receiving these for years. . . . Filing complaints with the Do Not Call Registry, thestate and the FCC doesn’t seem to have any effect. Is there nothing we can do to stop thisguy?”
If you can find him, take him to court. New rules effective last Oct. 16 in an update to theTelephone Consumer Protection Act have given consumers new powers againsttelemarketers.
>> All telemarketing calls, except those manually dialed that do not contain a recordedmessage, are now prohibited without the consumer’s prior written consent. (The rule alsoapplies to calls made to cellphones and text messages.)
>> The established-business-relationship exemption has been eliminated. Untilmid-October, if a consumer purchased something, or perhaps opened a credit-card account,that relationship allowed telemarketing calls from the business without the consumer’sconsent. Not anymore.
Penalties for failing to comply with TCPA regulations remain unchanged. It’s $500 for everyunsolicited call or text message, $1,500 if the telemarketer “willfully or knowingly” sends itafter the consumer opts out. The new rules should only add to an already burgeoningnumber of lawsuits.
“Don’t take it on the chin,” says Sergei Lemberg, a consumer attorney in Stamford. “A lot oftimes people take it on the chin for reasons unclear. There’s a law that protects people.They should know about it. To telemarketers, this [TCPA update] is a humongousdifference.”
TCPA-related lawsuits increased close to more than 60 percent in 2013, according topreliminary statistics from WebRecon, which tracks U.S. district court cases, to 1,781 casesfrom 1,101 in 2012. Two years ago, says Lemberg, his firm handled only a small number oftelemarketing cases. Now they represent half the firm’s caseload. Lemberg says a 2012Supreme Court decision that allows TCPA cases in federal courts, not only in state courts,has made it easier to track down and collect penalties from telemarketers.
“If I sue a telemarketer in federal court,” says Lemberg, “I’m going to hit them up for $500 to$1,500 a call. I’m going to get a judgment against them, assuming they are viable. I registerthat judgment in the federal district court where they are located and I go ahead and dowhat people do with a judgment — lien the business property, bank accounts, whatever.”
TCPA regulations apply to all telemarketers, not only catch-me-if-you-can scammers. Lastyear, before the TCPA update, Bank of America agreed to pay $32 million to settle claims
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"The FDCPA is a consumer protection
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Law Offices of Sidney Mickell
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that it made harassing debt-collection robocalls to customers’ cellphones. Papa John’sagreed to pay $16.3 million for sending pizza promotions by text message. Google faced a$6 million settlement in a texting case.
Daniel Blinn, a consumer lawyer in Rocky Hill, has not represented anyone in a TCPA casebut he’s familiar with the fallout, as a consumer.
“I recently got a notice of a class action under this law and I submitted a claim,” Blinn says.“And I was shocked at the amount of damages. I wound up getting a check for $500. And Iwas shocked — I thought it would be a fraction. That was a result of very few peoplesubmitting claims.”
Any unauthorized call or text makes the sender vulnerable. That includes credit-cardcompanies, debt collectors, retailers, electricity suppliers and power-washing businesses.Exemptions include recorded calls by nonprofit organizations, political calls and othernon-telemarketing calls such as school-closing alerts.
Lemberg says he’s representing a consumer awarded a $45,000 judgment in a caseagainst Hughes Network, which so far has refused to pay.
“Well, it’s a $45,000 judgment and they are going to pay,” he says. “If, knowing thepenalties, a telemarketer or bank or debt collector nonetheless violates the law, then theydeserve to get whacked. And if they get whacked enough, they’ll stop doing it.”
If you’re not part of a class-action suit against a robocaller, what do you need to file a suitand where do you file it?
>> If you haven’t already, add your home phone and cellphone numbers to the National DoNot Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov). Telemarketers must remove you from their lists andstop calling within 31 days.
>> Keep a record of the telemarketer’s phone number (or numbers), the date of each call,whether they’re recorded calls or include a human. Save all voice and text messages fromtelemarketers.
>> Opt out of a telemarketer’s robocalls and texts and note the date. If the telemarketerdoesn’t stop, penalties for each subsequent call or text could triple, to $1,500.
An app like PrivacyStar, for Android and Apple devices, identifies incoming telemarketingcalls and text messages to mobile phones. It also has a direct-filing feature for complaints tothe Do Not Call Registry. The company says the app accounted for almost 10 percent ofviolations reported to the FTC last year. The app also stores much of the informationneeded to sue the telemarketer.
“What we have seen, time and again, regardless of the rules,” says Jonathan Sasse, thecompany’s chief marketing officer, “a lot of these telemarketers are banking on the fact thatthey are not going to have any action taken against them. . . . Their behavior really hasn’tbeen curbed much. But our customers have been able to take that all the way through tocompletion with settlements in their back pockets.”
Any consumer can file a suit, without an attorney in small claims court, which has a $5,000limit. Blinn says if you can identify the caller, it’s worth doing.
“But that is the hard part,” he says. “A lot of them are rogue operators.”
Lemberg says, in some cases, he has simply named the phone number and “unidentifiedcaller” in a complaint. Then, once the complaint has been filed in federal court, hesubpoenas the company that owns the phone service to find out the actually owner of thephone number.
“It’s risky,” says Lemberg. “Sometimes I sue guys and I don’t even know who it is. All I seeis a building with no name. I have to have enough cases so the risk can’t sink you. . . .Maybe 5 to 10 percent of our cases we can’t serve them. It’s a lot of legwork up front.”
TCPA cases also do not allow the consumer to collect attorney’s fees against atelemarketer. Consumers usually retain an attorney on a contingency basis, with no feesunless money is awarded in the case. Lemberg says he takes between 30 percent and 40percent of each settlement.
Sometimes a local company might settle a small-claims case, but Lemberg says it’s moreoften a waste of a consumer’s time in court.
“I would never advise anyone to do it,” he says. “Suppose you sue a telemarketer from Ohioin a Connecticut small claims court and get a judgment for $5,000,” he says. “What are you
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going to do with that judgment?”
In small claims court, where judgments are difficult to enforce, not much.
A telemarketer, of course, could avoid any robocall lawsuit by using humans who dial thephone manually, then speak to the consumer.
“I settled a case in North Carolina for a guy for $50,000 and he was so excited,” saysLemberg. “He said, ‘I’m buying myself a new trailer!’ You know, it’s OK. It really is OK,because on the one hand you have a humongous corporation that chooses to use anautodialer to make all its calls. . . . You take money from them, you put this money in thisguy’s pocket. I feel very good doing that.”
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