If a real estate agent does not comply with Florida telemarketing laws, which are much stricter than federal laws, cold calling can lead to legal problems. The risks often outweigh the benefits.
Telahasi Florida. - Florida Telemarketing Solicitation Act (FTSA) went into effect July 1, 2021. Aware of the prevalence of telemarketing in the state, Florida decided to update its telemarketing law to regulate interstate communications more strictly than the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). ).
TCPA is a federal law designed to protect consumer privacy by restricting certain types of telemarketing communications. Florida's TCPA became known colloquially as Mini-TCPA. After Florida updated its laws, other states such as Washington and Oklahoma followed suit.
Since this base is equivalent to TCPA, mini-TCPA was created. Over the years, the TCPA has been widely interpreted in many federal district courts. Florida has seen the need for its TCPA to ensure that telemarketing claims are handled more consistently by its courts. As detailed below, there are major differences between TCPA and FTSA.
The main differences between the TCPA and Florida Telemarketing laws
Because Florida's telemarketing laws follow the TCPA model, consumers are given many of the same protections. For example, they both give consumers the right to take personal action and both incur statutory damages of between $500.00 and $1,500.00 per violation. However, there are some major differences between FTSA and TCPA.
The most significant difference between TCPA and Florida telemarketing laws is their respective approach to combination. The TCPA prohibits the use of Car Dealers to send telemarketing communications without the consumer's prior written consent. Supreme Court Facebook Inc. It is explained that Auto Dialer contains tools that can store or generate phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator.
The Florida TCPA program does not use the term "auto-order". Instead, it prohibits "calling a telephone number or an automated system to trigger or play a recorded message" over the phone or sending text messages without the consumer's prior written consent. To complicate matters further, the FTSA does not define what an "automated system" is. However, in the Southern District of Florida Turrizo v. Metro responded that the Florida legislature does not need to define every term to make its point.
Turizzo also clarified that the FTSA "automatic system" is not equivalent to the TCPA "automatic dispenser" system. As might be expected, the definition and alleged use of automated systems is hotly debated in telemarketing complaints currently filed under the FTSA.
Some of the other differences between FTSA and TCPA are more subtle, including:
- Limiting the number of times a company can call or text consumers to three times a day; And
- Prevent calls before 8:00 AM and after 8:00 PM in consumer time zones. It is important to note that Florida spans two time zones, Eastern and Central.
The FTSA isn't even two years old, but it's become a constant source of litigation in the telemarketing space. The broad and unclear interpretations of what automated systems mean has created significant legal issues for companies calling and/or messaging Florida customers. No matter how it is interpreted, companies must be proactive in ensuring compliance with the FTSA.
The content of this article is intended to provide general guidance on this issue. Specialist advice should be sought in special circumstances.
© Mr. David O. Klein. Klein Moynihan Turco LLP, 450 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10123