Minnesota’s Do Not Call Law



Minnesota’s Do Not Call Law

| |

|[|What the law does: | |

|p|On May 15, 2002 Governor Ventura signed into law the "Do Not Call List" bill which is expected to reduce the number of | |

|i|unsolicited telemarketing calls that consumers receive. The new law allows Minnesota consumers who do not want to be | |

|c|contacted by telemarketers to register their phone numbers on a Do Not Call list. Phone solicitors contacting consumers| |

|]|are required to purchase an updated list every four months and remove those phone numbers from their databases. Phone | |

| |numbers will remain on the list for four years. The Department of Commerce will maintain the list and enforce the law, | |

| |which goes into effect January 1, 2003. | |

| |What the law does NOT do: | |

| |The new law will not stop all telemarketing calls to consumers. Certain organizations are exempt from the law, meaning | |

| |they do not have to purchase the Do Not Call list before phoning Minnesota citizens: | |

| |Non profit organizations | |

| |Political organizations | |

| |Businesses with a prior relationship with the customer (such as banks, credit card companies and telephone companies) | |

| |Businesses that do not complete the sale over the phone, but rather complete the presentation in a face-to-face setting| |

| |(such as home repair services, lawn services, and mortgage companies) | |

| |How the list is funded | |

| |The cost of establishing and maintaining the list will be recovered through the fees paid by telemarketers who are | |

| |required to purchase the No Call list on a quarterly basis. Violators could be charged with a civil penalty of up to | |

| |$1,000 per violation. Repeat offenders will be barred from all telemarketing in the state. | |

| |Other provision in the No Call List law | |

| |All telemarketers will be prohibited from using devices that disable Caller ID on consumers' telephones. | |

| |Telemarketers will be required to immediately identify themselves, the company they represent and the product they are | |

| |selling. | |

| |If the Federal Trade Commission develops a nationwide "do not call list," Minnesota's list will be automatically | |

| |included on the national register. In that case, companies that obtain the federal list wouldn't be required to buy the| |

| |state list. | |

| |A Word from the Department of Commerce: | |

| |The department is concerned that the new law creates the expectation that consumers will no longer have their lives | |

| |interrupted by unwanted telemarketing calls. The exceptions in the law may make it possible for a number of | |

| |telemarketers to continue soliciting customers by phone. | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download