Robocall Guide · Answers
Do I have a TCPA case?
You don’t need to be a lawyer to get a sense of whether you have a case. Run through five quick questions, and if your calls check the boxes, each one can be worth $500 to $1,500.
Free · No obligation · About 2 minutes · No fee unless you recover
Short answer
It depends, but it’s easy to gauge. You likely have a TCPA case (under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act) if the calls or texts hit your cell phone, used an autodialer or a recording, came without your written permission, kept coming after you said stop, or were meant for someone else (a wrong number). Tick any of those and it’s worth a free review.
The five questions that matter
- Were the calls to your cell phone (or a number you pay for)?
- Did they use an autodialer or a prerecorded message?
- Did you ever give written permission to be called?
- Did the calls keep coming after you asked them to stop?
Question 1 & 2: Your cell phone, and how they dialed it
The TCPA’s strongest protections cover your cell phone. So the first question is this: did the calls or texts come to your mobile number (or another number you personally pay for, like some VoIP lines)?
The second is how they reached you.
You can usually tell from the tell-tale pause before a person comes on, a recorded voice, or a text blasted to a list. If the call hit your cell and used one of these automated methods, you’ve cleared the two biggest hurdles. If you’re not sure which system they used, that’s fine. The company’s own dialer records can prove it later. You don’t have to know the technical details to have a case.
Question 3: Did you give written permission?
This is the question that decides most cases. To send you marketing robocalls or auto-texts on your cell, a company generally needs your prior written consent, a clear, written “yes” to being contacted that way.
Two things trip people up here. First, having done business with a company once doesn’t mean you agreed to a stream of marketing robocalls. Second, and this is the big one, you can take consent back at any time. The moment you say “stop calling me,” any permission you gave is revoked, and calls that keep coming after that can be worth the higher $1,500 amount.
If you never gave clear written permission, or you revoked it and they kept dialing, that points toward a case.
Question 4 & 5: After-stop calls and wrong numbers
Two situations carry extra weight, and they’re the ones people most often don’t realize they can act on.
- Calls after you said stop. Telling a caller to stop, by phone, text, or in writing, and being ignored is one of the clearest signs of a strong case. Ignoring a stop request can make the calls willful, which triples the per-call amount from $500 to $1,500. Keep a note of when you asked.
- Wrong-number calls. If a company is robocalling you for someone else, about a stranger’s loan, a debt that isn’t yours, a name you’ve never heard, you almost certainly never consented, because you were never their customer. That’s one of the strongest fact patterns in this whole area of law. In Higgs v. Golden Title Loans, 385 wrong-number calls were valued at $1,500 each for a $577,500 judgment.
You don’t need a perfect, complete record to qualify. If your honest answer to these questions points toward illegal calls, the next step is a free review. Want a faster check? See if you qualify or learn how to sue a telemarketer.
Related: Do I qualify? · How to sue a telemarketer · Calls after you said stop · Wrong-number robocalls
What kind of calls are you getting?
Each of these is a real, recoverable claim under the TCPA.
Wrong-number robocalls
Prerecorded or auto-dialed calls meant for someone else. You can have a claim even though you’re not a customer.
About wrong-number robocall claimsWrong-number debt collection
Auto-dialed collection calls for a debt that was never yours. Illegal twice over, and it pays.
About wrong-number debt collection claims“Stop calling me”
You told them to stop and the calls kept coming. Each one can be a separate violation.
About claims for calls after you said stopSpam text messages
Marketing texts you never agreed to count under the TCPA too. Screenshots are often all the proof you need.
About spam text message lawsuitsDo-Not-Call violations
Registered your number and the calls didn’t stop? Continued telemarketing may entitle you to damages.
About Do Not Call violation claimsPrerecorded cell calls
Robotic or artificial-voice calls to your cell without consent are a clear TCPA violation.
About prerecorded cell call claimsDo I have a TCPA case: FAQs
How many illegal calls do I need to have a case?
Even one can be a $500 violation, so there’s no minimum. More calls simply mean a larger claim. The bigger factors are whether the calls were illegal at all and whether the company can be identified.
What if I’m not sure they used an autodialer?
That’s normal and not a dealbreaker. You don’t need to prove the technology yourself. The company’s own dialer and call records can establish how the calls were made, and a free review can tell you whether the rest of your facts line up.
Does it cost anything to find out if I have a case?
No. The review is free, and Max Morgan, Esq. works on contingency, so there’s no fee unless you recover. Every case is different, but checking costs you nothing.
Find out in about two minutes
See if your calls are worth money.
Answer a few questions and Max Morgan, Esq. will tell you, free, whether you have a case. No cost, no obligation, no fee unless you recover.