Earlier this month, a magistrate judge allowed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) complaint filed by a notorious serial plaintiff to move forward to trial despite evidence potentially indicating that his claims were manufactured. This decision demonstrates the risks that these sorts of serial plaintiffs pose.

Once again, there are  a number of notable stories from the past month relating to Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance, Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) compliance, and call deliverability that are worth gathering in one blog post.

State Restricted Do Not Call Dates

February 20, 2023 – Washington’s Birthday

• Alabama*, Louisiana**, Mississippi, Pennsylvania***, Rhode Island, Utah****

February 21, 2023 - Mardi Gras

• Louisiana

Canadian Restricted Do Not Call Dates

February 20, 2023 – Family Day 

• New Brunswick, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan & British Columbia

* George Washington's and Thomas Jefferson's Birthday

** Statutory, not enforced

***Presidents’ Day

****Washington and Lincoln Day

Real estate franchisor Keller Williams agreed to settle a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action for $40 million. The settlement is in response to complaints covering a wide variety of alleged violations—National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry violations, internal DNC list violations, prerecorded voice violations, and automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) violations.

A Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) ruling this week in a federal court in Rhode Island affirmed that state law does allow for criminal penalties for debt collectors who fail to register as such under the state’s laws.

Earlier today we hosted a webinar, TCPA Outlook for 2023 with Czar of TCPAWorld, Eric J. Troutman. It was a wide ranging, informative, somewhat off the cuff discussion between Eric and Contact Center Compliance Director of Compliance Services, Arvell Craig. They covered the current state of the marketing and calling industry and what likely lies in the year ahead.

On December 27, nearly 3 years to the day since the passage of the TRACED Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continued to tweak the law’s implementation with an Order on Reconsideration and Declaratory Ruling that addressed industry criticism of previous TRACED Act mandated rulings.

State Restricted Do Not Call Dates

January 1, 2023 – New Year’s Day

• Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah

January 2, 2023 – New Year’s Day (Observed)

• Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah

January 16, 2023 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• Alabama*, Louisiana, Mississippi*, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah

*also Robert E. Lee Day

Canadian Restricted Do Not Call Dates

January 1, 2023 – New Year’s Day

• National

January 2, 2023 – New Year’s Day (Observed)

• National