Bronson Files Lawsuit Against Company For Violating Do Not Call Law
For Information, Contact:
Terence McElroy
(850) 488-3022
January 7, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced today that he has taken legal action against a California company for violating Florida’s Do Not Call law.
A lawsuit filed in Leon County Circuit Court alleges that Meredian Financial Corporation, of Costa Mesa, California made at least 19 calls to Florida residents on the state’s Do Not Call list in 2006 and 2007. In addition, the company is accused of playing a recorded message when consumers answered their phones, which is a separate violation of state law.
“This company has repeatedly called consumers on the Do Not Call list, intruding on their privacy despite the fact that the citizens went to the effort to get their phone numbers placed on the list”, Bronson said. The message is that this activity will not be tolerated.
The legal action seeks an injunction prohibiting the company from making any future calls to residents on the list and fines of up to $10,000 for each of the calls it made to prohibited phone numbers.
Bronson’s department has collected or obtained judgments of more than $1.5 million against companies that have called residents on the list, and several such legal actions are pending in courts throughout the state.
The Commissioner encourages Floridians to join the program, which prohibits most commercial telemarketers from calling numbers on the list. For more information about the program, consumers can call the department's toll-free hotline - 1 800 HELP FLA (435-7352) - or visit the Division of Consumer Services website at www.800helpfla.com.
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