HB0091 - Telephone solicitation.

 

2001

State of Wyoming

01LSO-0063.E1

ENGROSSED

 

 

 

HOUSE BILL NO.  HB0091

 

 

Telephone solicitation.

 

Sponsored by:

 

 

A BILL

 

for

 

 1  AN ACT relating to consumer protection; restricting
 2  unsolicited telephonic sales calls as specified;
 3  prohibiting calls to consumers listed on the national do-
 4  not-call list; prohibiting the blocking of caller
 5  identification services; restricting the use of automated
 6  telephone dialing systems; specifying investigative powers;
 7  providing definitions; conforming related provisions;
 8  providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective
 9  date.

10 

11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

12 

13         Section 1.  W.S. 40-12-301 through 40-12-304 are
14  created to read:

15 

16                         ARTICLE 3

17                   TELEPHONE SOLICITATION

 

Page  1

 

 

 

 1 

 2         40-12-301.  Definitions.

 3 

 4         (a)  As used in this article:

 5 

 6              (i)  "Caller identification service" means a type
 7  of telephone service or system which allows telephone
 8  subscribers to see the telephone numbers from which
 9  incoming telephone calls are dialed;

10 

11              (ii)  "Consumer" means an actual or prospective
12  purchaser, lessee or recipient of consumer goods or
13  services;

14 

15              (iii)  "Consumer goods or services" means any
16  real property or any tangible or intangible personal
17  property or any services which are marketed and intended to
18  be used for personal, family or household purposes,
19  including, without limitation, any such property intended
20  to be attached to or installed in any real property without
21  regard to whether it is so attached or installed, as well
22  as cemetery lots and timeshare estates;

23 

 

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 1              (iv)  "Doing business in this state" refers to
 2  businesses which conduct telephonic sales calls from a
 3  location in Wyoming or from other states or nations to
 4  consumers located in Wyoming;

 5 

 6              (v)  "Enforcing authority" means the Wyoming
 7  attorney general;

 8 

 9              (vi)  "Established business relationship" means a
10  prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-
11  way communication between a seller or telephone solicitor
12  and a consumer with or without an exchange of
13  consideration, on the basis of an inquiry, application,
14  purchase or transaction by the consumer regarding products
15  or services offered by such seller or telephone solicitor
16  which relationship has not been previously terminated by
17  either party;

18 

19              (vii)  "Merchant" means a person who, directly or
20  indirectly, offers or makes available to consumers any
21  consumer goods or services;

22 

23              (viii)  "National do-not-call list" means the
24  list maintained by the Telephone Preference Service of the

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 1  Direct Marketing Association, Inc., Farmingdale, New York,
 2  or its successor organization;

 3 

 4              (ix)  "Telephonic sales call" means a call made
 5  by a telephone solicitor to a consumer, for the purpose of
 6  soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services, for
 7  the purpose of soliciting an extension of credit for
 8  consumer goods or services, or for the purpose of obtaining
 9  information that will or may be used for the direct
10  solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or services or an
11  extension of credit for such purposes;

12 

13              (x)  "Telephone solicitor" means any natural
14  person, business entity or a subsidiary or affiliate
15  thereof, doing business in this state, who makes or causes
16  to be made a telephonic sales call, including, but not
17  limited to, calls made by use of automated dialing devices;

18 

19              (xi)  "Unsolicited telephonic sales call" means a
20  telephonic sales call other than a call made:

21 

22                   (A)  In response to an express request of
23  the person called;

24 

 

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 1                   (B)  Primarily in connection with an
 2  existing debt or contract, payment or performance of which
 3  has not been completed at the time of the call;

 4 

 5                   (C)  To any person with whom the telephone
 6  solicitor had an established business relationship; or

 7 

 8                   (D) By a telephone solicitor or merchant
 9  making less than one hundred (100) unsolicited calls per
10  year.

11 

12         40-12-302.  Telephone solicitations.

13 

14         (a)  Any telephone solicitor or merchant who makes an
15  unsolicited telephonic sales call to a residential or
16  mobile telephone number shall disclose at the outset of the
17  conversation and in a clear and conspicuous manner to the
18  person receiving the call, the following information:

19 

20              (i)  The name of the individual caller;

21 

22              (ii)  The identity of the telephone solicitor or
23  merchant and the telephone number from which the call was

 

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 1  placed, and a telephone number and address at which the
 2  telephone solicitor or merchant may be contacted;

 3 

 4              (iii)  That the purpose of the call is to sell
 5  consumer goods or services; and

 6 

 7              (iv)  The nature of the consumer goods or
 8  services.

 9 

10         (b)  No telephone solicitor or merchant shall
11  willfully make or cause to be made any unsolicited
12  telephonic sales call to any residential, mobile or
13  telephonic paging device telephone number more than sixty
14  (60) days after the number for that telephone appears in
15  the national do-not-call list. This subsection does not
16  apply to any person who calls an actual or prospective
17  seller or lessor of real property when the call is made in
18  response to a yard sign or other form of advertisement
19  placed by the seller or lessor.

20 

21         (c)  No telephone solicitor or merchant who makes an
22  unsolicited telephonic sales call to the telephone line of
23  a residential subscriber in this state shall knowingly
24  utilize any method to block or otherwise circumvent the

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 1  subscriber's use of a caller identification service.

 2 

 3         40-12-303.  Automated sales calls.

 4 

 5         (a)  No telephone solicitor or merchant shall make or
 6  knowingly allow a telephonic sales call to be made if the
 7  call involves an automated system for the selection or
 8  dialing of telephone numbers or the playing of a recorded
 9  message when a connection is completed to a number called.

10 

11         (b)  Subsection (a) of this section does not prohibit
12  the use of an automated telephone dialing system with live
13  messages if:

14 

15              (i)  The calls are made or messages given solely
16  in response to calls initiated by the persons to whom the
17  automatic calls or live messages are directed;

18 

19              (ii)  The telephone numbers selected for
20  automatic dialing have been screened to exclude any
21  telephone subscriber who is included on the national do-
22  not-call list and any unlisted telephone number; or

23 

 

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 1              (iii)  The call is to a consumer with whom the
 2  caller had an established business relationship.

 3 

 4         40-12-304.  Investigation of complaints; enforcement;
 5  attorney's fees.

 6 

 7         (a)  The enforcing authority shall investigate any
 8  complaints received concerning violations of this article.
 9  If, after investigating any complaint, the enforcing
10  authority finds that there has been a violation of this
11  article, the enforcing authority may bring an action to
12  impose a civil penalty and to seek other relief, including
13  injunctive relief, as the court deems appropriate against
14  the telephone solicitor or merchant. The civil penalty
15  imposed shall be as follows:

16 

17              (i)  For the first violation, not to exceed five
18  hundred dollars ($500.00);

19 

20              (ii)  For the second violation, not to exceed two
21  thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00);

22 

 

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 1              (iii)  For the third and subsequent violations,
 2  not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per
 3  violation.

 4 

 5         (b)  An action under this section may be brought in
 6  the district court of the county in which the telephone
 7  solicitor or merchant resides or had its principle place of
 8  business or in the district court of Laramie county
 9  Wyoming. The civil penalty provided under this section may
10  be recovered in any action brought under this article by
11  the enforcing authority, or the enforcing authority may
12  terminate any investigation or action upon agreement by the
13  telephone solicitor or merchant to pay a stipulated civil
14  penalty. The enforcing authority or the court may waive any
15  civil penalty if the telephone solicitor or merchant has
16  previously made full restitution or reimbursement or has
17  paid actual damages to the consumers who have been injured
18  by the violation.

19 

20         (c)  In any civil litigation resulting from a
21  transaction involving a violation of this article, the
22  prevailing party, after judgment in the trial court and
23  exhaustion of all appeals, if any, shall receive reasonable
24  attorney's fees and costs from the nonprevailing party.

 

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 1 

 2         (d)  The remedies provided by this section are not
 3  exclusive and shall not preclude the imposition of any
 4  other relief or criminal penalties provided by law.

 5 

 6         Section 2.  W.S. 6-6-104(b) is amended to read:

 7 

 8         6-6-104.  Unlawful automated telephone solicitation;
 9  exceptions; penalties.

10 

11         (b)  This section shall not prohibit the use of an
12  automated telephone system or device described under
13  subsection (a) of this section for purposes of informing
14  purchasers of the receipt, availability or delivery of
15  goods or services, any delay or other pertinent information
16  on the status of any purchased goods or services or
17  responding to an inquiry initiated by any person, or the
18  use of an automated telephone dialing system as authorized
19  by W.S. 40-12-303.

20 

21         Section 3.  There is appropriated from the general
22  fund seventy thousand dollars ($70,000.00) to be expended
23  by the attorney general for the purpose of administrating
24  this act.

 

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 1 

 2         Section 4.  This act is effective July 1, 2001.

 3 

 4                         (END)

 

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