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Texas Business & Commerce Code - Section 44.102. Telemarketing Of Persons On Texas No-Call List; Enforcement; Penalties

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Business & Commerce Code > Texas Business & Commerce Code - Section 44.102. Telemarketing Of Persons On Texas No-Call List; Enforcement; Penalties

§ 44.102. TELEMARKETING OF PERSONS ON TEXAS NO-CALL LIST;  
ENFORCEMENT;  PENALTIES.  (a) A telemarketer may not make a 
telemarketing call to a telephone number that has been published on 
the Texas no-call list more than 60 days after the telephone number 
appears on the then-current list.
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the commission 
shall receive and investigate complaints concerning violations of 
this subchapter and may assess an administrative penalty not to 
exceed $1,000 for each violation.  If the complaint alleges that the 
person violating this subchapter is a telecommunications provider, 
as defined by Section 51.002, Utilities Code, the commission has 
exclusive jurisdiction, notwithstanding Subsection (c), over the 
violation alleged in the complaint, except that this does not 
affect the right of a consumer to bring an action under Subsection 
(f).
	(c)  Except as provided in Subsection (d), the attorney 
general may investigate violations of this subchapter and file 
civil enforcement actions seeking injunctive relief, attorney's 
fees, and civil penalties in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each 
violation.  If the court finds the defendant wilfully or knowingly 
violated this subchapter, the court may increase the amount of the 
civil penalties to an amount not to exceed $3,000 for each 
violation.  A violation of this subchapter is subject to 
enforcement action by the attorney general's consumer protection 
division under Sections 17.47, 17.58, 17.60, and 17.61.
	(d)  A state agency that issues a license to a state licensee 
shall receive and investigate complaints concerning violations of 
this subchapter by the state licensee, may assess an administrative 
penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, and may order 
restitution of any monetary damages of the complainant.  In 
addition, if the agency finds that the licensee wilfully or 
knowingly violated this subchapter, the agency may suspend or 
revoke the state licensee's license.
	(e)  Venue for an action based on a violation of this 
subchapter is in the county where the telemarketing call was made or 
received, or if brought by the attorney general, commission, or a 
state agency, in Travis County.
	(f)  For purposes of this subchapter, a consumer on the Texas 
no-call list is presumed to be adversely affected by a telemarketer 
who calls the consumer more than once and may bring a civil action 
based on the second or a subsequent violation of this subchapter if:
		(1)  the consumer has notified the telemarketer of the 
alleged violation and not later than the 30th day after the date of 
the call files a verified complaint setting forth the relevant 
facts surrounding the violation with the commission, the attorney 
general, or a state agency that licenses the person making the call;  
and
		(2)  the commission, attorney general, or state agency 
receiving the complaint fails to initiate an administrative action 
or a civil enforcement action, as appropriate, against the 
telemarketer named in the complaint before the 121st day after the 
date the complaint is filed.
	(g)  If the consumer brings an action based on violation of 
this section and the court finds that the defendant wilfully or 
knowingly violated this section, the court may award damages in an 
amount not to exceed $500 for each violation.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1429, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002.  
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Bus. & C. Code § 43.102 by Acts 2003, 
78th Leg., ch. 1275, § 2(3), eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Last modified: August 10, 2007