Telephone Consumer Protection Act Violations
Many debt collectors are using automated equipment to dial cellular telephone numbers in an attempt to collect a debt. This conduct is in direct violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a federal law that specifically prohibits any automatic telephone dialing system or pre-recorded voice to make any call to a cell phone.
Apparently, many debt collection companies are using something called robo-dialing or predictive dialing, where calls are placed without an actual person on the phone until a connection is made. Once a connection is made, the call may be forwarded to an actual person. These automated calls are typically made without the consent of the debtor, and sometimes done even after the debt had already been paid. Still, regardless of the status of the debt, as soon as these robotic calls are made, these debt collectors are in violation of the Act.
In recent settlements and lawsuits involving this practice, Plaintiffs have alleged that debt collection calls were made to people on their cellular telephones, either with an automatic telephone dialing system or by a prerecorded voice message, in violation of the TCPA. Victims are entitled to statutory damages of $500 per violation even if the debt collector’s actions were not intentional. If deemed intentional or willful, statutory damages are $1500 per violation. In addition, violators are subject to attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses and costs of the suit.
Even banks have recently faced class action suits over unfair debt collection conduct. Some of the illegal tactics include leaving harassing voice message calls on your cell phone, calling family, friends or co-workers about a debt and phoning multiple times each day about your debt.
If you have received one of these automated pre-recorded calls on your cell phone in an attempt to collect a debt, please contact the attorneys at Pogust Braslow & Millrood so we can evaluate your potential claim.
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