Most people just let them ring out. An unknown number with a local area code, two seconds of silence after you answer, then a recorded voice about a car warranty or a debt relief program you never asked about.
Unwanted telemarketing calls are more than just annoying. In some circumstances, unwanted calls and text messages may violate federal or Florida law, and may entitle the person receiving them to monetary damages.
One of the easiest steps Florida residents can take to protect themselves is to register their personal telephone numbers with the National Do Not Call Registry. It is free, it takes a few minutes, and it costs you nothing but the time.
The Registry was created to give consumers a way to tell telemarketers that they do not want to receive unsolicited sales calls. Both home telephone numbers and cell phone numbers can be registered. The Federal Trade Commission has been explicit that there is no difference between registering a cell phone and a home phone for the purposes of the Registry, which is worth saying plainly because the opposite rumour has been circulating for twenty years.
Registration is free. Any service that offers to put your number on the Registry for a fee is not doing something you cannot do yourself in five minutes.
Florida residents can register through the federal government's official site, DoNotCall.gov. You can also register by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the telephone you want to register, which is the simpler route if you only have the one number.
If you register online, follow the instructions the Registry gives you to complete the process. It asks for an email address and sends a confirmation link, and the registration is not finished until you click it.
Register every personal number you use regularly, including your cell. Most people register the landline they barely answer and leave the phone in their pocket unprotected.
Your number appears on the Registry the next day, but telemarketers are given up to 31 days to update their lists. Calls arriving in that window are not necessarily anybody breaking the rules.
Registering your number does not guarantee that unwanted calls will stop. Companies that disregard telemarketing laws may carry on calling, and the Registry is a list rather than a filter. Nothing about it blocks anything.
What it does is change your legal position, because federal law restricts certain telephone solicitations to numbers appearing on the National Do Not Call Registry. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, usually shortened to the TCPA, and the regulations implementing it provide consumers with important protections against certain unwanted telephone calls.
Depending upon the circumstances, a consumer who receives repeated calls in violation of the applicable Do Not Call regulations may have a private claim under the TCPA. Federal law provides that a person who receives more than one telephone call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity, in violation of the applicable regulations, may bring an action and seek actual monetary loss or up to $500 for each violation, whichever is greater. For a willful or knowing violation, a court may, in appropriate circumstances, increase the damages to as much as three times the otherwise available amount, which means statutory damages can potentially reach $1,500 per violation in qualifying cases.
Under §227(c)(5), damages are assessed per qualifying violation rather than as a single flat amount per lawsuit, so repeated violations can substantially increase potential damages.
It is worth being equally clear about the other direction. Not every unwanted call violates the TCPA. Consent, an established business relationship, the purpose of the call, the identity of the caller, applicable exemptions and other circumstances can all affect whether a particular call is unlawful. That pattern runs through most of Florida's consumer protection laws: the protection is real, and so are the conditions attached to it.
Florida residents may also have protections under Florida's own telephone solicitation laws. Florida Statute § 501.059 regulates telephone solicitations and expressly covers certain telephone calls, text messages and voicemail transmissions, which is broader than many people assume.
Among other things, Florida law restricts unsolicited telephonic sales calls to numbers appearing on the applicable Do Not Call list, and imposes additional restrictions on certain automated calls and messages. It also provides a private remedy for certain violations. Under the current statute, an aggrieved called party may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and a court may increase the award for a willful or knowing violation.
Florida law also contains important exceptions, defenses, notice requirements and other limitations. One of them catches people out regularly: Florida currently imposes a specific STOP-message and 15-day notice requirement before certain claims involving text-message solicitations may be brought. Before bringing an action for damages under §501.059 based on text-message solicitations, the called party generally must reply STOP to the number and the solicitor must continue sending solicitations more than 15 days after receiving that notice.
People who are dealing with debt tend to receive both kinds of call, and the two are governed by different statutes.
A telemarketer is selling you something. A debt collector is pursuing money it says you already owe. The Do Not Call Registry and the laws described above are aimed at the first group. Calls from a debt collector are governed by a separate set of rules, including the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Florida's own Consumer Collection Practices Act, and registering with the Registry does not affect them.
Debt-collection calls generally are not covered by Do Not Call restrictions because they are not sales solicitations, although other TCPA/FCC restrictions may still apply depending on how the call or text was made.
If the calls you are receiving are about a debt rather than an offer, the protections that apply are set out on our page covering debt collection harassment and your rights under the FDCPA and FCCPA. Keep the same records either way.
If you believe you previously registered your number, the Registry website will confirm its status and tell you the date. Knowing when your number was registered can be important if you later receive unwanted telemarketing calls.
Registrations do not expire. Once a number is on the list it stays there, and there is no renewal to remember. That being said, the FTC can remove a number if it is disconnected/reassigned or if the consumer asks for removal. If you are being told otherwise by somebody offering to renew it for you, that is the tell.
Keep records. This is the part that separates a complaint from a claim, and it costs nothing at the time.
Useful information includes:
The date and time of each call or text
The telephone number that contacted you
Screenshots of your call history or text messages
Voicemails left by the caller
The name of the company being advertised
The identity of the caller, if provided
What product or service was being offered
Any requests you made asking the caller to stop contacting you
Do not delete potentially relevant call logs, texts or voicemails if you believe the communications may have violated the law. Some phones, carriers, or voicemail services may automatically delete older records, so check your settings before that happens rather than after.
If the calls turn out to be coming from a debt collector rather than a telemarketer, the records you need are the same but the law that applies is not. Our page on debt collection harassment sets out those protections, and we have written in more detail about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in Florida.
Registration is free, takes only a few minutes, and adds a layer of protection you do not currently have. Visit DoNotCall.gov to register or verify your number, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register.
If you are a Florida resident who continues receiving unwanted telemarketing calls or text messages after registering, you may wish to speak with an attorney about whether the communications violate the TCPA, Florida's telephone solicitation laws, or other consumer-protection laws. Peck Law Firm represents Florida consumers in disputes with companies that ignore those rules.
Call (352) 835-7977 or visit pecklawfirmfl.com to schedule your free consultation today.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Registration on the National Do Not Call Registry does not mean that every subsequent call or text message is unlawful or creates a right to compensation. Whether a particular communication violates federal or Florida law depends upon the specific facts and applicable law.