Setting yourself up for needless TCPA lawsuits? Join the club. Many companies aren't properly identifying previous litigants, and getting hit with class actions for millions. That's big time money. Luckily, there's a way to still call your good prospects, without compromising your calling lists.
Previous TCPA Litigator Scrub Video
Contact centers and sellers are virtually all at risk...
From the growing group of professional serial lawsuit filers hiding amongst contact data.
At a recent webinar for hosted dialer companies and call centers, 30% of the participants indicated they’d been targeted by a DNC or Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigator. (See our blog: "The 5 Groups most likely to file Do-Not-Call & TCPA Litigation against your Business.")
The fact is, almost 40% of consumers who have filed Do-Not-Call, TCPA, FDCPA or FCRA lawsuits have litigated in the past. These private, professional plaintiffs make a living suing telemarketers by going out of their way to receive autodialed calls by changing their telephone numbers, buying large blocks of numbers and by leaving their number off of the national DNC list. See Bloomburg's take on it here.
Now more than ever, contact centers need to aggressively identify and remove these known TCPA plaintiffs—preferably under a single compliance umbrella, along with appropriate DNC, Cell Scrubbing, and VoIP lines.
How to fight back against the tide of TCPA Litigation:
A Litigator Scrub, integrated into your present call prohibition compliance procedures, is essential for full DNC and TCPA protection today. Though not required by law—it’s such a small group, about 85,000 and growing at 1200 per month—you can’t afford NOT to delete these folks from your calling lists. The identifications should include all previous TCPA and related consumer litigants and their attorneys, along with updated associated cell and landline numbers. Of course you’re just interested in the numbers!
Recognized as the “Most Active TCPA Consumer Attorney” since 2011, Sergei Lemberg agrees:
“If I sue a telemarketer in federal court, I'm going to hit them up for $500 to $1,500 a call. I'm going to get a judgment against them, assuming they are viable. I register that judgment in the federal district court where they are located and I go ahead and do what people do with a judgment — lien the business property, bank accounts, and more. Believe me, you don't want to be caught in that position.”
Especially when it’s so easy to eliminate this group from your outbound calling initiatives. Because AFTER you call, it’s too late. The record has been made. You can’t un-ring that bell!
If you find your call recipient doing these 11 things, it could be a pro:
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Writing down your caller ID,
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Marking down the date and time,
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Being overly nice to you early on,
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Asking you to repeat your name and number,
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Asking again who you’re calling for,
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Sounding almost too interested in what you’re selling before inquiring,
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Subtly asking for a copy of your Do-Not-Call Policy,
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Casually asking to be placed on your Do-Not-Call List,
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Scribbling or typing in the background making notes of your call,
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Asking for your website address, or
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Following up with an e-mail to a high ranking company officer, asking again for DNC Policy & In-House No Call List placement.
Most phone marketers don’t even know what a DNC Policy is. So these pros are counting on you not sending it to them upon request. And each time you call, it’s an additional $500 tagged on to a potential small claims court filing. Now they have enough to take you there, and prepare their case.
Class Action Previous Litigants: The Big Leagues
It’s really not that big a leap from the small claims court to the big leagues. Consumers tend to get addicted to this stuff. Something about suing somebody and winning that calls you. Or better, somebody that owes you money and winning! Of course the class action assumption is: If you’re calling me incorrectly, you must be calling a lot of other folks incorrectly also. Google: “How to sue a telemarketer.” You’ve never seen a happier group—in kind of an off way.
In Summary: Don’t be calling the pros, especially when it’s so easy to rid your lists of them. It’s not a big group, so you won’t be losing lots of numbers. Even if you have all your ducks in a row. Even if your compliance efforts come with a squeaky-clean-get- out-of-jail-free card. It’s still worth your while to avoid professional litigants.
Don’t unknowingly set your company up for needless DNC, TCPA and related lawsuits.
For more on the critical importance of TCPA Litigant Scrubbing, just call my personal line at 561-317-3001 or visit our page: "Known TCPA/FDCPA Plaintiffs & Litigants Scrub."
What do you think? Are you setting yourself up unknowingly? Please add to comments below -
Related Articles:
- Calling Businesses: Try a Litigator Scrub for TCPA, DNC, FDCPA and FCRA first.
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Litigator Scrub critical to TCPA FDCPA Compliance after FCC Declaratory Ruling
- Do I need a Litigant Scrub if I'm already scrubbing for TCPA and DNC Cells?
- 7 Reasons a Litigator Scrub is essential for TCPA Compliant Calling Today
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The Groups most likely to file Do Not Call & TCPA Litigation Against You
