Telemarketing

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The Federal Trade Commission issued two notices this week concerning the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)—an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) and a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR).  Both notices address the TSR’s exemption of business-to-business (B2B) telemarketing calls.  The FTC issued the new notices following its review of comments received in response to the regulatory…

On June 29, Florida Governor DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1120 which amends Florida law to impose new limits on the use of “automatic dialers.”  The law is effective today, July 1.

The new law prohibits the use of an “automated system” to make “telephonic sales call” without the prior express written consent of the…

In its second case against a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, the FTC announced that it has reached a proposed settlement with Alcazar Networks Inc. and its owner Gavin Grabias concerning the FTC’s charges that they facilitated tens of millions of illegal telemarketing phone calls.  The proposed settlement bars Alcazar and Grabias from…

A recent settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and a media conglomerate underscores the importance of implementing robust Telephone Consumer Protection Act compliance measures, including for third-party vendors.  In 2017, a jury found DISH Network LLC liable for its vendors’ violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as…

On November 20, 2020, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a student-loan debt-relief company, FDATR, Inc., and its owners, Dean Tucci and Kenneth Wayne Halverson. FDATR was an Illinois company that involuntarily dissolved in September 2020.  Through telemarketing and telephone sales, FDATR promised to provide student-loan debt-relief and credit-repair services to consumers.

The complaint,…

The CFPB recently filed suit in the Central District of California against Texas-based GST Factoring Inc. and two of its owners, along with Champion Marketing Solutions, LLC (“CMS”), its owner, and four separate attorneys.

In its complaint, the CFPB alleged that defendants violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) prohibition on receiving advance fees for debt-relief…

For our clients and others interested in monitoring coronavirus (COVID-19) developments involving debt collection or telemarketing, effective today, March 23, Ballard Spahr has launched a comprehensive, national tracking program.  Each business day, participants in the program will receive an email update of any new laws, orders, executive pronouncements, or other guidance impacting the collections and…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has rejected a trade group’s attempt to invalidate a November 2016 FTC opinion in which the agency concluded that outbound telemarketing calls made using soundboard technology are subject to the prior written consent requirement for robocalls in the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The TSR’s robocall…

A D.C. federal district court has rejected a trade group’s attempt to invalidate a November 2016 FTC opinion in which the agency concluded that outbound telemarketing calls made using soundboard technology are subject to the prior written consent requirement for robocalls in the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The TSR’s robocall written consent requirement applies…