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The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) became federal law in 1991. The TCPA governs the conduct of telemarketers and debt collectors.

The TCPA restricts the use of automatic dialing systems (also known as autodialers or predictive dialers), as well as artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages received by cell phones, and the use of fax machines to send unsolicited advertisements.

A consumer is unlikely to know if a call to his or her cell phone was initiated using an autodialer - they will sound like any other phone call. A call imitated using an autodialer may have a live person on the other end. However, in order for a debt collector or telemarketer to maintain a volume operation, they must make thousands of phone calls each day - so, if you are getting calls from a debt collector or telemarketer on your cell phone, there is a good chance they are violating the TCPA.

In accordance with the TCPA, consumers are entitled to collect damages ranging from $500 to $1,500 for each call, fax, or text message which violates the TCPA.

Examples of Common TCPA Violations

Unless a consumer has previously given express consent, it is generally a violation of the TCPA for a business to engage in any of the following conduct:

Debt collector and/or telemarketing calls made to your cell phone which were initiated by the use of an autodialer.

Debt collector and/or telemarketing calls made to residences which were initiated by an artificial voice or a prerecorded message.

Debt collector and/or telemarketing calls made to your cell phone which were initiated by an artificial voice or prerecorded message.

Sending unwanted fax messages which solicit or promote a business (i.e. junk faxes).

Sending unwanted business advertisements via text messages to your cell phone.

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