Lender Faces Up to $80,000 in Do Not Call Fines

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recently announced that it is seeking injunction prohibiting Majestic Mortgage LLC from any future calls to residents on the “Do Not Call” list.

The lawsuit the department filed in the Palm Beach County Circuit Court accuses the Boca Raton, Fla.-based firm of making at least eight phone calls to Florida residents on the “Do Not Call” list during the past four months. Additionally, the state agency alleges the company played recorded messages when residents answered the phone — a separate violation of Florida law, according to the announcement.

“Consumers who join the program are entitled to be spared the intrusion of commercial telemarketing calls, and we are committed to seeing that their privacy is protected,” department commissioner Charles Bronson said in the written statement.

The department said it seeks fines of up to $10,000 for each violation involving the calls Majestic made to prohibited telephone numbers.

However, Mark Slicker, the registered agent for Majestic — which on its Web site says it is a “correspondent lender,” — said the calls stemmed from a hired, third-party marketing firm that does business for multiple mortgage companies.

Despite that the marketing firm is responsible for abiding by “Do Not Call” rules, Majestic ended up with the complaint from the department, Slicker said, adding that it will seek legal action against the firm.

The department says it has collected or obtained judgments for more than $1 million against companies that have called residents on the list, and several lawsuits on such violations are pending in courts throughout the state.