WHAT IS THE TCPA?
The TCPA is a federal statute signed into law in 1991 and designed to protect consumers from unsolicited communications. Its provisions call for limiting the use of pre-recorded or artificial voice messages and text messages generated by automatic dialing systems, a practice which is also known as robocalling. Unless a consumer has specifically provided permission for such calls and texts, then the caller or sender may be violating the TCPA.
The penalties for violations are hefty. Lawsuits filed under the TCPA allow recovery of up to $1,500 for each call or text found to be in violation of the TCPA after the consumer has asked the caller/sender to stop calling/sending.
Consumers who feel harassed or annoyed by such calls have the right to revoke previously granted consent. For example, if you give your consent for calls on an application for some sort of service, but later decide that the calls are bothersome, you have the right to revoke consent.
Calls to cell phones and landlines as well as text messages to cell phones have the potential to violate the TCPA. The key elements of a TCPA violation are:
- The call is made or the text is sent without your previous consent.
- The call is made with an artificial or prerecorded voice.
- The call or text message is made or sent automatically.
- For calls to landlines, the call constitutes telemarketing or is used to advertise a product or service.
Although increasingly less common, junk faxes that contain an advertisement, are sent without prior permission, contain no opt-out option, and are sent by someone with no pre-existing business relationship with the recipient can also be in violation of the TCPA.
