| 10 Calls Cost Broker $100,000
B-W Mortgage fined by Florida regulators February 20, 2006 By PATRICK CROWLEY |
| A case out of Florida shows that states are serious about cracking down on mortgage brokers and lenders that violate no-call telemarketing lists.B-W Mortgage Inc., a mortgage broker in Englewood, Fla., is facing fines of up to $100,000 for allegedly making 10 calls to residents who paid to be put on the state’s “do-not-call” list, according to a statement from the Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Department.
The company, which allegedly made the calls between June and November of last year, also used recorded messages, which is a separate violation of Florida law, the department said in a statement. The state filed suit against B-W Mortgage in Sarasota Circuit Court. “The legal action seeks an injunction prohibiting B-W Mortgage from making any future calls to residents on the list and fines of up to $10,000 for each of the calls it make to prohibited phone numbers,” the department said in the statement. B-W Mortgage owner Bill Novack did not return a phone message or e-mail to MortgageDaily.com. He could not be reached to comment. “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,” Charles H. Bronson, commissioner of the Agriculture and Consumer Services Department, said in the statement. “We have little tolerance for companies who flout the law,” Bronson said. Under Florida law residents pay $10 to get on the do-not-call list and then are charged a $5 renewal fee each year. “The fees are used to pay the expenses for operating the program and enforcing the law,” according to information posted on the Divisions of Consumer Services Web site. The division says the most “frequent violations” of the law occur when solicitors fail to identify themselves with their real names; fail to identify the name of the business that is paying for the call; calling a number of the do-not-call list maintained by the state; and making a recorded sales call. Companies are exempt from the law if they have done business with the customer or if the customer has requested information. Debt collectors, charities, market research firms and pollsters, politicians seeking donations and newspapers are also exempt from the law. Bronson said the state has “collected or obtained judgments of more than $1.5 million against companies that have called residents on the list, and several such legal actions are pending in courts throughout the sate.” There is a national do-not-call list established by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Thirty-two states also have do-not-call lists, according to the American Teleservices Association, or ATA, a telemarketing trade group based in Indianapolis. In a posting on its Web site, the association said that do-not-call lists operated by states in conjunction with the federal list “places an unnecessary burden on the teleservices industry that will become increasingly costly and time consuming.” “The ATA believes the current federal do-not-call list requirement adequately protects consumers from unwanted telephone solicitations,” the association said. “The ATA opposes blanket state do-not-call lists while supporting the federal … approach.” |
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Patrick Crowley is a feature journalist and blogger for MortgageDaily.com. He is also a reporter, blogger and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. |
