Stopping Robocalls: Your Rights State by State

• Metric: 1991
• Metric: $500
• Metric:

  The Telephone Consumer Protection Act passed in 1991, when fax machines were the cutting edge of unsolicited spam. Congress did something unusual when they wrote it: instead of relying on a federal agency to enforce, they baked in a private right of action — $500 per illegal call or text, $1,500 if the violator did it knowingly. No lawyer required to file in small claims, though most TCPAThe federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It restricts robocalls and unsolicited text messages, and gives consumers the right to sue for $500–$1,500 per violating call or text. cases run in federal court.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act passed in 1991, when fax machines were the cutting edge of unsolicited spam. Congress did something unusual when they wrote it: instead of relying on a federal agency to enforce, they baked in a private right of action — $500 per illegal call or text, $1,500 if the violator did it knowingly. No lawyer required to file in small claims, though most TCPAThe federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It restricts robocalls and unsolicited text messages, and gives consumers the right to sue for $500–$1,500 per violating call or text. cases run in federal court.

The rule has held up well across three decades of changing technology. Companies need your prior express written consent before sending a marketing robocall or text. The National Do Not Call Registry stops most telemarketing on top of that. Telemarketers have to identify themselves and call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time. Keep a clean log when violations happen — date, time, number, what was said — and the TCPAThe federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It restricts robocalls and unsolicited text messages, and gives consumers the right to sue for $500–$1,500 per violating call or text. basically enforces itself. Class actions against robocallers have settled for hundreds of millions.