4 REASONS WHYTHE TCPA ISN’T A THREAT

Lead buyers have been dealing with the ever increasing threat of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for years now, as more class action suits are led each year. And yet, there are still many companies that dial hundreds of consumers every day that don’t think they are at risk.

It’s understandable why they mistakenly think the TCPA isn’t a threat to their organizations, based on some of the reasons they state. Here are four of the most common reasons why organizations think the TCPA isn’t a threat, along with the explanations for why their reasons don’t hold water.

“But, we don’t use an auto-dialer.”

Are you sure? Based on the latest interpretations of the TCPA by the FCC, only a rotary phone would be safe from the broad and sweeping definition of an automatic dialing system. If you use click-to-dial, or your system can be modified to work that way, it could be considered an auto-dialer.

Not to mention that the opportunity to prove that you don’t use a predictive dialer doesn’t come until the end of discovery, so you’ve now spent a year and a lot of money getting to that point, regardless of whether or not you can then prove that.

“But, we’re indemnified by our lead partners.”

Indemnity is not a silver bullet. If the lead- seller can’t pay, then the advertiser is jointly liable. The plaintiff doesn’t care who pays, and courts have held that responsibilities extend to everyone in the marketing chain that touched a particular consumer.

The same applies if you are counting on your lead generator’s insurance policy. Whatever their policy limit is when talking about a TCPA class action suit – it’s nothing, and more commercial liability coverage actually excludes coverage for TCPA.

“But, our lead vendors will provide screenshots and IP addresses as proof of consent.”

That’s better than nothing, but it’s far from bullet- proof. Your best strategy is to get out fast and early, and IP addresses are not always reliable.

What you need to get out fast and early is a more comprehensive view of the consumer’s consent - persuasive evidence in line with “caught on camera” credibility. You need evidence persuasive enough that it will defeat an attorney demand letter to avoid litigation altogether.

“But, I’ve never had an issue and we’re too small to be a target.”

No one is immune. You need due diligence in place because it only takes one lawsuit to ruin your operations, not to mention your reputation. Quite frankly, it’s a matter of when—not if—you’ll be sued, regardless of your industry or size.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that no one who dials consumers is immune to the TCPA. You should continue to educate yourself about the law and what you need to do to ensure your organization is TCPA compliant.

For more information on TCPA compliance, visit: www.jornaya.com/solutions/tcpa-guardian.

(c) 2016 Jornaya, Jornaya.com & Lead Intelligence, Inc. d/b/a Jornaya. All rights reserved.

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