If you don’t check for reassigned numbers on permission calls, it could get expensive. Abandoned landlines are picked up regularly by carriers and converted to wireless. Reassigned or “recycled” numbers are up 16% since 2007. “It’s increasingly common for individuals to get calls for the previous subscriber,” says the Wall Street Journal. Yet courts and the FCC have made it clear that businesses are responsible for calling the right person. The one that gave them permission to call in the first place. And predatory Attorneys continue to capitalize on mistakes in the millions of dollars.
Wow! – Is this list ripe for predatory consumer TCPA Attorney attacks or what? The FCC just published here the latest companies that have received consumer complaints. Why publish the list at all? Seems to harken back to the days of tar and feathering in the town square. Hanging folks up on the pillory with the shackles. But definitely a deterrent to running afoul of the DNC and TCPA laws! How the heck can we stay off this list?
You don’t hear much about em'. Alot of these cases settle out of court. Small business to business callers would never survive a drawn out class action anyway, and lawyers know it. But defenseless businesses calling other businesses still won't acknowledge the compliance danger. Humming along like they always have. Calling cells with auto-assistance. With pre-recorded messaging. Not registering for the DNC. Heck, not even identifying mobiles at all.
The value proposition for hiring a third party to scrub your cell phones: To help you win in court. By Telemarketing Defense Attorney Eric Allen, Allen, Mitchell & Allen PLLC –
Hiring an outside expert vendor to do your cell scrubbing is advisable because that’s all they do. They know it better than you ever could. And if you select a good one, they don’t make mistakes. They are going to scrub more accurately, and with better data, and have a far greater chance of holding up under legal scrutiny.
Most TCPA Class Actions, the ones that can put you out of business that is, include some sort of permission to call component. Permission is usually the catalyst to court where lesser charges can be tacked on. Former TCPA litigants trapping unsuspecting telemarketers are people you just don’t want engage. And although the reassigned number law applies to cells and landlines, recognizing and archiving wireless is the significant step here. All these components and more make up what are called permission-based marketing communications.
It’s bound to happen. Sooner or later, calling from social media sourced lists with their many cell phone numbers will cause a TCPA violation, maybe even a class action. Probably when you least expect it. But most business to business tech and software salespeople don’t think so. They need to call those cells. And the ones on the Do Not Call Lists. The ones the TCPA says you can’t dial with any automated assistance (which covers virtually 100% of B2B calls).
If you’re making B2B calls, at least scrub for former TCPA Litigants. One of our clients scrubbed 13,000 numbers against our Previous Litigator list last week and got 35 hits. 35 pros you wouldn’t want to call. What are these guys doing on Business to Business calling lists anyway? Seems lots of cells are being picked up as business lines from social media sources lately. Data Compilers have access to previously hidden mobile numbers at Linked-In and Twitter and include them in company searches.
Business to Business callers have it wrong. They think by identifying and archiving cells they’ll go broke. Out of business. First, you can call cells - if you do it by hand and those numbers are not on the National or State Do Not Call Lists. Second, it's important to identify wireless numbers. It'll be tough to defend your wireless calling procedures against the CFPB, FTC, FCC, State AG’s and smart litigants if you don’t know which numbers are mobile. Not to mention B2B TCPA litigation is on the rise!
As a list broker, if you do nothing with compliance, there's a good chance it’ll come back to bite you today. If you help your clients with TCPA compliance, that implies liability exposure. Not good. The days of making businesses sign off on the DNC and TCPA are kind of over. Without any guidance, either they’ll get a threat letter from a professional litigator demanding payment or the CFPB will find out they don’t even identify cells, and will want to do an audit. Your client expects some call prohibition help today. At the very least, some warm and fuzzy direction.
Won't the previous litigants get scrubbed out anyway? You'd think so. But many former TCPA plaintiffs set traps enticing you to call. Some lawyers even have apps to sue your call center or individual solicitors. Whole communities sharing information just to trip you up. Should you mitigate the risk and insulate yourself from these pros? - You bet. But all litigator scrub lists are not created equal. Here's how to get and incorporate a Litigator Scrub into your compliance procedures.
