|
2.
A Few Words About the National "Do Not Call" List
There's
been a lot in the news recently about
the proposed "Do Not Call"
list going into effect in the United
States. This is the proposed law that
allows people to put their phone number
on a list if they don't want to be
contacted by telemarketers anymore. If
the law finally goes through, then most
telemarketers cannot legally contact you
anymore if you've already put your phone number
on the list. Well,
as you probably already know, despite
the fact that the law was set to go into
effect at the beginning of October, as
of this moment it's all tied up in the
courts right now. The telemarketing industry is
fighting hard to retain their ability to
continue making unsolicited
telemarketing calls to the American
public. In
the past few weeks I've read a few
articles written by people in the real
estate industry, talking about ways to
get around the new law if and when it
does take effect. But when I read the
proposed law itself, I don't see how
these approaches suggested by these writers will
really allow you to get around the law.
If you read the proposed law, you will
see that there is language that
discusses looking at the true
underlying intent of each phone call made
on a case-by-case basis. So if you're
careful at choosing what you say in
making an unsolicited call to someone in
trying to skate around the proposed law,
you still in the end can be held to
have violated the law itself. This applies to
phone calls made when you speak to a
live person on the receiving end, as
well as any voicemail messages that you
leave for people who do not answer the
phone when you call them. But at the same
time, there definitely are some
exceptions to the law for calls you make
to people you've had past business
relationships with, and calls you make
to other people
you've had prior contact with. So you
really, really have to know what you're
doing here to make sure you stay within
the law when making your prospecting
calls. If
this law goes into effect, you will want
to have solid advice from an attorney
who is an expert in this arena before
you pick up the phone and begin calling
people for your real estate business. In
addition to this, you will also want the
attorney to advise you on your required
compliance with any separate set of laws
from your own state that apply to your
telemarketing calls, too. So
again, you definitely have to be very,
very careful here. People are
extremely tired of receiving unsolicited
telephone calls. And some of them may
get very trigger-happy about filing
complaints against salespeople who call
them on the telephone if this law goes
into effect also. And if they feel they may
be able to sue you and collect damages from
you in addition to filing the complaint, they may become even more
trigger-happy. Whether or not
you feel you are in the right with
respect to this proposed law when you
make
a telephone call, the truth is it's the
opinion of the person who is receiving
your call that really counts. All it may
take is one irate person you called to
file a complaint and you could then find
yourself in a less than desirable
situation. And of course there's always
the possibility of the person suing you
for damages in addition to filing the
complaint. And if
you have more than one complaint filed
against you, your life could get very
unpleasant very quickly. So know what
you're doing if and when this law goes
into effect before you begin calling
people. And make sure you're advised in
advance by solid legal counsel also. If
you haven't yet seen the proposed
"Do Not Call" law, I've made
it very easy for you to take a look at
it. But be prepared...it's a full 164
pages long! You can take a look at the
proposed law by visiting: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-153A1.pdf
|
