Congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 to restrict companies from engaging in unwanted telemarketing communications commonly referred to as a robo-calls. The TCPA restricts the use of dialers, prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages received by cell phones, and the use of fax machines.
The purpose of the TCPA is to protect consumer privacy and EMPOWER consumers to stop unwanted calls. Consumers are eligible to receive $500 to $1,500 PER CALL.
So, what is a “call?”
Courts have defined a “call” as an attempt to communicate with a person by telephone, which means that the phone does not even need to ring for TCPA liability to occur. This is a broad definition of the word “call” which punishes debt collectors for the following behavior:
Hang-up calls designed to irritate the consumer from an unidentifiable private line. See Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, 569 F.3d. 946 (9th Cir. 2009);
Text messages to a cell phone constitute a “call” under the TCPA See Joffe v. Acacia Mortgage Corp., 211 Ariz 325 (Ariz. App. 2005);
Fax Advertisements constitute a “call” under the TCPA See Hinman v. M & M Rental Ctr., Inc. 596 F. Supp. 2d 1152 (N.D. Ill. 2009);
If you have been harassed by a debt collector and he used an automatic dialing system or a prerecorded message to contact you, you may have a case under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
If you’ve been receiving unwanted calls on your cell phone, contact us today for a free case evaluation. We may be able to help stop the phone calls and recover compensation on your behalf.