Daily News and Information for the Mortgage Loan Originator
State Seeks $160,000 Fine For Lender's Do Not Call Violation
Monday, December 19, 2005
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TALLAHASSEE - Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced that he has taken legal action against a Brevard County telemarketer for violating Florida’s “Do Not Call” law.
A lawsuit filed in Brevard County Circuit Court alleges that Direct Mortgage Group Inc., of Melbourne, made at least 16 telephone calls to Florida residents on the state’s “Do Not Call” list between January and October of 2005. The calls persisted despite numerous warning letters to the company.
“Consumers who join the program are entitled to be spared the intrusion of commercial telemarketing calls, and we’re committed to seeing that their privacy is protected,” Bronson said. “We advised this company to stop calling numbers on the list, but they disregarded our warnings.”
The legal action seeks an injunction prohibiting Direct Mortgage Group from any future calls to residents on the list and fines of up to $10,000 for each of the calls it made to prohibited numbers.
Bronson’s department has collected or obtained judgments of more than $1.5 million against companies that have called residents on the “Do Not Call” list, and several such legal actions are pending in courts throughout the state.
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State Seeks 1.5 Million for Do Not Call Violation It’s not just the federal government that’s cracking down on mortgage companies that violate the Do Not Call laws. The consequences can be just as steep at the state level – which is more bad news for mortgage companies who have still not taken steps to be compliant.
8 Alleged DNC Violations May Cost Originator $80K A lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court alleges that Majestic Mortgage LLC made at least eight telephone calls to Florida residents on the state’s “Do Not Call” list during the past four months.
If Your Company Doesn’t Have a Do Not Call Policy, is it Time to Quit? Before you pick up the phone to call a realtor referral or past client referral, understand this - it may personally cost you $11,000. Readers who responded to our earlier article-What you don’t know Can Bankrupt your Company overwhelming asked the same questions, “Can I be personally fined?” and “What should I do if my company doesn’t take the DNC laws seriously?”
10 Calls May Cost Broker $100,000 in Fines For allegedly placing only 10 calls to consumers on the Do Not Call list may cost a mortgage broker $100,000 in fines. Additionally, the same broker is also being sued for using pre-recorded messages, which is a separate violation and subject to additional fines.
Broker To Pay $15,000 For Do Not Call Violation In an environment where more and more states are enforcing both the State and Federal Do Not Call laws, TE Mortgage Corp. will pay a civil penalty of $15,000 for telemarketing calls made to residents listed on state's Do Not Call list.
FTC Moves to Stop Mortgage Marketer From Using Phony Caller ID A nationwide marketer of mortgage loans has been calling people whose numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, and doing so without identifying itself, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking civil penalties and an injunction against the company for violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.
What You Don’t Know Can Bankrupt Your Company If you’re one of those mortgage originators who thinks the Do Not Call (DNC) laws don’t apply to you because you’re not making cold calls or you’re only buying “scrubbed” leads, the FCC says you’d better listen up. Yes, the laws were originally enacted to curb those annoying dinnertime calls from your typical telemarketer; but the reality is these laws apply to all U.S. companies that make sales transactions over the telephone – including mortgage companies.
