At Martinson & Beason, P.C., we want you to know your rights. It’s come to our attention that many people in Alabama are being flooded with annoying, harassing phone calls from telemarketing companies that do not have their permission to call them.
You should know that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a federal law, gives you the right to sue a company if it calls your cell phone without getting permission from you, or if it calls your cell phone after you’ve told them to stop contacting you. Furthermore, the act applies to not just unwanted phone calls but also text messages, automatic dialing systems, and pre-recorded messages. Under TCPA, a company is permitted to contact you only if you authorized it and if you have an existing business relationship. If you sue a company that broke the law to contact you, you can collect $500 per call. If your case proves that the company knew that they were breaking the law when they contacted you, you can collect $1,500 per call.
Note that TCPA does not apply to all organizations. The exceptions to the law are charitable organizations and political campaigns. Your local food bank or state senator can call you to ask for your support, but you do not have the right to sue them under TCPA.
You also have options if you want unwanted telemarketing calls to your home phone to stop: you can register your phone number on the National Do-Not-Call list. Companies that are not exempt are required to stop calling you 30 days after your number is registered on the list. If they do contact you, you can file a complaint. To register your home phone number on the Do-Not-Call list, call 1-888-1222 from your home phone or visit http://www.donotcall.gov.
If you have been receiving phone calls or text messages on your cell phone from a company that you’ve never worked with and never authorized to contact you, you should considering consulting with a lawyer.
Email our firm or call 256-533-1667 to learn about your legal options from an experienced Alabama consumer protection attorney.