Do Not Call Rules

What Rules Govern Telemarketing Efforts by Real Estate Licensees? 

There are four primary laws: The “FCC” Telephone Consumer Protection Act; The “FTC” Telemarketing Sales Rules; California laws that govern unsolicited and unwanted telephone solicitations; and The California Public Utility Code – that only regulates robocalls. 

A Real Estate Broker Should Establish Telemarketing Office Policies to Comply with these Rules as Follows: 

• Have a written policy, available upon demand, for maintaining a do-not-call list; 

• Train telemarketing persons on the existence and use of the federal do-not-call list; 

• Prohibit your telemarketers from initiating telephone solicitations to those on the do-not-call list; 

• Your telemarketers can call those on the do-not-call list if there is (a) written permission; or (b) an established business relationship or (c) a personal relationship; 

• Whoever requests not to be called must be placed on a company-specific do-not-call list within 30 days of the request and the request must be honored for 5 years; 

• Your telemarketer must provide the called party with the name, telephone number and address of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made; 

• Calls should not be made before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location); 

• An unanswered call should not be disconnected prior to at least 15 seconds or four rings; 

To Avoid Liability when A Person on the Do-Not-Call List is Mistakenly Called, You Must Meet these Requirements: 

1. The office policy provisions above have been established; 

2. The broker maintains a list of telephone numbers that may not be contacted; 

3. The broker maintains a process to prevent calls to those on the do-not-call list and maintains a version of the national do-not-call registry obtained from the administrator of the registry no more than 31 days prior to the date any call is made, and provides records documenting this process; AND 

4. The broker maintains a process to ensure that (a) the do-not-call database is not used for any purpose other than compliance with state and federal law; and (b) the cost of accessing the do-not-call database is not shared with other companies. 

Robocalls Rules 

• Telemarketers may not initiate robocalls without the express written consent of the called party. 

• Robocalls must: (a) be made between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the time zone of the intended recipient of the call; (b) be introduced by a live person; and (c) get the consent of the person called. The only applicable exceptions are for robocalls to a known party, business party, customer, or one who has agreed beforehand to receive robocalls. 

Deceptive or Abusive Practices 

Deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or practices are prohibited