How much money could you make suing telemarketers?
I get 3 or 4 calls a week from them; it seems like virtually always they commit one or two $500 infractions of the telemarketing act.
If I could sue and collect for all of these infractions, that’s $2000-2500 per week, or over $100,000.00 per year. Not bad for part-time work.
So what’s the problem? Will small-claims court judges find against me? Are the judgments uncollectable? What am I missing?
One problem is you don’t seem to realize how long of a process you’re talking about.
You don’t just sue somebody and a month later sit in front of a jury, get your verdict and get paid. It can take years to even get before a judge (if your case isn’t thrown our, or settled), and then years more before money even changes hands.
(Factoid: your typical car wreck case will run you about 2 1/2 years. I know this because I have worked for several personal injury lawyers and 2 1/2 pretty much seems to be the average. It could vary depending on which state you’re in, and which insurance company you’re suing. Some will break faster than others … if you’re suing State Farm, good luck, because they don’t wanna pay for jack.)
As far as collecting money from them, you have a very slim chance. Most telemarketing companies are rackets; they don’t live long and by the time you got around to suing they’d be gone.
Also, I don’t know who the fines go to when these places commit their sins, but it certainly will not go to a private citizen. I imagine whatever government agency controls them gets the loot.
Save time and money, buy a TeleZapper.
Well you can go the telezapper route. Or you can do something more along the lines of suing them… Basically, call the state you live in and ask to be on the do not call list. I am pretty sure all states have this. It takes a couple weeks, but if you are on the list and get a call, you take their name and number and info and report them… Sometimes, I guess suing could be an option if you continue to get calls.
I am in Connecticut, the wife and I used to get tons of phone calls, now we are on THE LIST and we don’t get calls anymore…
That’s true, but the wait for small claims court is much shorter. In many jurisdictions you can go from initial suit to final judgment in two months.
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But more than half of the calls I get are from companies that I would think have deep pockets. For example, two days ago I got a call from a major newspaper in the New York area.
As I understand the law, a citizen can collect damages of $500 for certain infractions.
That’s interesting, but I’m not asking about how to stop telemarketing calls. I’m asking how much money I can make off the calls.
The Michigan Attorney General was handling two cases for me, but they had to drop one because the bastards turned out to be interstate, i.e., Federal Government level.
As far as collecting money from either of them, according to the AG, all it takes is small claims court – virtually no waiting.
If I didn’t have a job, I would consider making a point to actually go through with it, and while I don’t clear $500 per day, it’s just that much more makeup work I’d have when I get back!
This is assuming, of course, that you have no moral problem with lawsuits …
But that’s another can of worms.
Haha, I’m a lawyer.
Anyway, I know that, in theory, I can collect $500-$1500 per incident.
The question is, as a practical matter, how much money could I make per year suing telemarketers?
I am pretty sure that once you bag the first 2 or 3, the rest will clam up pretty quickly and there goes your business.
I was just reading of a guy who won something like 10 out of 14 lawsuits against telemarketers, but had yet to collect a dime.
Moral problem with lawsuits? A lawsuit is the one way a private citizen can use the power of the public authority to enforce his or her legal rights. Why would anyone have a moral problem with that? It’s what the legal system is there for.
Interesting - do you happen to remember where you read about this guy?
By the way, I’m an experieced collections attorney. So I feel especially qualified to make money this way. On the other hand, I am painfully aware of the limits of my own knowledge, so any thoughts you have would be welcome.
The only wrinkles that I know of is that
(1) You have to document your calls (that’s easy, just keep a pad of paper next to your phone).
(2) The telemarketers are allowed to call you a year after you place them on the Do Not Call List.
Bottom line: Hey, why not treat it as supplemental income? Figure out how much time each complaint costs you and see whether it approaches your hourly rate. Do us all a favor and take 'em to court.
Wonder if I could sue a telemarketer for emotional anguish. I’ve been stressing all night because I got a call from an ISP company yesterday hawking their services.
I said something along the lines of “no thanks we are with XYZ and are very happy, you have a nice day and thanks for the call”.
NB - I always make a point of being real polite as they get off the phone quicker.
The telemarketer laughed at me in a knowing way and said “well if your sure about them”.
Now I’m worried that the telemarketer knows something I don’t. Should I change my ISP, is there anything wrong with it. Self doubt is not what I needed thanks Mr Telemarketer.
Nah, then you go into business teaching seminars on how to sue telemarketers for hundreds even thousands of dollars. Just follow my simple plan and you too can be rich!