DNC Demand Letters Are A Serious Matter – Corporate and Company Law – Corporate/Commercial Law

As our readers are aware, companies risk substantial penalties
for failure to abide by federal Do-Not-Call (“DNC”)
regulations. Many DNC lawsuits, that eventually end in judgment or
settlement, were preceded by DNC demand letters. The DNC registry
was enacted by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), with
the help of the Federal Communications Commission
(“FCC”), under the authority granted to it by the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The TCPA
generally prohibits companies from placing telemarketing calls to
consumers who have registered their telephone numbers on the
National DNC list. In addition to the National DNC Registry, 11
individual states enforce their own DNC list protections, including
Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Subject to
certain exceptions, companies that contact consumer telephone
numbers listed on either the National or state registries are at
risk of receiving a DNC demand letter prior to litigation.

DNC Demand Letters Can Lead to Significant Monetary
Penalties

If a DNC demand letter is not sufficiently addressed in a timely
fashion, the result may be a world of pain. In addition to legal
fees incurred in defense of a DNC lawsuit, both federal and state
DNC provisions allow for monetary recovery if a DNC plaintiff
prevails in a court of law. Under the TCPA, telemarketers are
liable for statutory damages in the amount of $500 per call
(excluding the first call) for DNC violations. If the court finds
that a violation of the TCPA was willful, it may award the
recipient of the unwanted call up to $1,500 per call. Penalties for
violating a state’s DNC registry provisions vary from state to
state, but range from $100 to $25,000 per call. Note that
telemarketers can also be fined up to $43,792 per violation of the
DNC provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule
(“TSR”).

How Can a Business Reduce its Chances of Receiving a DNC Demand
Letter?

DNC protections are generally afforded to all consumers that
register their telephone numbers on federal and state DNC
registries. However, it is important to mention that, in large
part, the DNC penalty provisions do not apply to telemarketers who
have an established business relationship with the consumer.

Pursuant to federal DNC provisions, a company has an established
business relationship with a consumer if: (a) the consumer has
entered into a transaction with the seller within the previous 18
months, or (b) the consumer inquired about the seller’s
goods/services within the previous three months. As with other
alleged violations of the TCPA, acquiring prior express written
consent from consumers is a complete defense to such claims.

Hire Experienced TCPA Attorneys to Address DNC Demands

Unfortunately, businesses often ignore DNC demand letters or
discard them (assuming they are junk mail). Make no mistake,
however, these demands carry very real financial implications if
they are summarily disregarded. More often that not, claimants will
carry through on their threats to file suit. Frequently, these
lawsuits are filed as putative class actions. This means that even
at the statutory federal minimum of $500 per violation, companies
accused of violating DNC provisions face enormous potential
judgments. To avoid this eventuality, companies that engage in
telemarketing should maintain proper DNC compliance procedures.
Unless an exemption applies, telemarketers should subscribe for
access to the National DNC Registry, pay all necessary fees, and
scrub potential called party numbers against the list (and state
DNC lists).

The attorneys at Klein Moynihan Turco have decades of experience
assisting clients with DNC compliance and defending TCPA class
action matters. We maintain active oversight over the most recent
TCPA lawsuits, big and small, in an effort to provide our clients
with the best possible representation.

Similar Blog Posts:

The Telemarketer’s Guide To Do-Not-Call
Compliance

TCPA Text Class Action Against Wolf of Wall Street
Dismissed

Duguid v. Facebook, Footnote 7: TCPA Landscape
Significantly Altered by Ninth Circuit Decision

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.