Telemarketing Calls

Tired of those telemarketing calls? The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a federal law that requires telemarketers to put you on a "do not call" list for the next 12 months if you ask. The law also prohibits calls before 8 am and after 9 pm and requires callers to volunteer their name, company, telephone number or an address.

Each time a telemarketer ignores a provision of the TCPA, you have the right to sue for $500 in damages for each part of the law the call violates. Robert Bulmash president of Private Citizen, an advocacy group dedicated to fighting telemarketing says "In my estimation, 95% of telemarketing calls violate the TCPA law".

You can cut down on the number of calls you receive by sending the names of all those in your household, address, and phone number to Telephone Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 9014, Farmingdale, NY. 11735.

Source: Gallagher, S. (1999, April). Telemarketers, buzz off! Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, 62-63.

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