Robocall Help · New York
Robocall Lawyer in New York: $500 to $1,500 Per Illegal Call
New York regulates telemarketers through General Business Law Section 399-z, which limits sales calls to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Section 399-p, which restricts automatic dialing-announcing devices. If illegal calls or texts are reaching you anywhere from Buffalo to Brooklyn, you may be owed $500 to $1,500 per call under the federal TCPA.
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New York robocall law at a glance
The federal TCPA sets the dollar amounts. New York’s General Business Law adds calling hours, caller ID rules and a small state remedy.
New York once maintained a statewide no-call registry, but Section 399-z now works through the national Do Not Call Registry, and a telemarketer must stop calling a number within 31 days of its registration. The section also requires written express agreement before a prerecorded sales call, bans misleading caller ID, and lets the Department of State fine violators up to $20,000 per violation. Section 399-p is the older automatic dialing law: it gives a consumer a private claim for actual damages or $50, up to $1,000 for a willful violation. Those state numbers are small next to the TCPA’s $500 to $1,500 per call, which is why the federal claim carries a New York case.
Two laws protect New York residents
A federal law covers everyone, and New York’s own rules can add to it.
The TCPA
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the nationwide law behind every claim.
- Protects everyone in New York, no matter the state rules.
- Bars autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to your cell without consent.
- $500 to $1,500 per call, stacking with every violation.
- You can sue personally, you don’t wait on the government.
General Business Law §§ 399-z and 399-p
New York’s telemarketing and automatic-dialer rules, enforced by the Department of State and the Attorney General.
- Calling hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the customer’s location under § 399-z.
- Prerecorded calls: require the customer’s written express agreement in advance, with an opt-out mechanism on the call.
- Caller ID: transmitting misleading, inaccurate or false caller identification is prohibited.
- Do Not Call: no separate state list; the national registry governs, with a 31-day grace period after registration.
How the law works in New York
Start with the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It makes autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts to a cell phone illegal without prior express consent, and it protects numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry from telemarketing. The remedy is statutory: $500 per violation, up to $1,500 when the violation was willful or knowing, and it applies to every call or text separately. That per-call structure is why a stack of ignored texts from a Manhattan lender or a Long Island solar seller can turn into a real case.
New York’s own rules sit in the General Business Law. Section 399-z requires telemarketers to honor the national registry within 31 days, keep calls between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the customer’s location, get written express agreement before any prerecorded sales call, and transmit honest caller ID. The Department of State enforces it with fines of up to $20,000 per violation. Section 399-p, the automatic dialing-announcing device law, adds a modest private claim of actual damages or $50 per violation, rising to as much as $1,000 for a willful violation, plus attorney’s fees. The New York Attorney General also takes consumer complaints and can seek injunctions and civil penalties.
Federal TCPA suits from New York are filed in one of four districts. The Southern District covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Yonkers and Westchester, with the 212 and 914 area codes. The Eastern District covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, including 718 and 516. The Northern District takes Albany and Syracuse, and the Western District takes Buffalo and Rochester, area codes 716 and 585. A state claim under Section 399-p can sometimes ride along in the same case, but the TCPA is the engine because its damages do not depend on proving a loss.
Max Morgan, Esq. reviews New York call records for free. Cases are handled nationwide under the federal TCPA. Local counsel is associated where New York rules require it. You pay no fee unless you recover. The federal TCPA limitations period is four years, but talk to us before assuming there is time; each call has its own date.
Getting illegal calls in New York? Do this.
- Keep every call and text.Screenshots of the texts, the voicemail files and your carrier’s call log are what a New York case is built on. Do not clear them.
- Register at donotcall.gov.New York no longer keeps a separate state list. The national registry is what Section 399-z enforces, and telemarketing that continues more than 31 days after registration is a separate violation.
- Report to the New York Attorney General.File through the consumer complaint page at ag.ny.gov. The Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection also takes telemarketing complaints, and its helpline is (800) 697-1220.
- File with the FTC and FCC.Use donotcall.gov and fcc.gov/complaints. Our page on reporting a robocall shows what to enter.
- Get a free case review.Tell us what is hitting your phone and we will tell you whether it looks like a TCPA case. Start with our two-minute case check.
Why New York residents reach out
If any of these sounds like your phone, it’s worth a free look.
What we help New York residents with
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 claimsHow it works
Three steps. No cost to find out. No obligation to go further.
Tell us what happened
Answer a few plain-English questions about the calls or texts. It takes about two minutes.
Max reviews it free
Max Morgan’s team looks at your answers and tells you, honestly, whether you have a claim worth pursuing.
If you qualify, he fights for it
You pay nothing up front and nothing unless you recover. Max handles the case.
Real cases Max has helped win
The TCPA is federal, so these results apply to New York residents too.
Wrong-number prerecorded debt-collection calls.
Lucas v. Synchrony Bank (N.D. Ind.)
Telemarketing to Do-Not-Call list & after opt-out.
Campbell v. Everything Breaks (D. Nev.)
385 wrong-number calls at $1,500 each.
Higgs v. Golden Title Loans (W.D. Tenn.)
Prerecorded calls to cell phones without consent.
Key v. Miracle Faith Center (N.D. Fla.)
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.
New York robocall FAQs
Does New York have its own Do Not Call list?
Not anymore as a separate signup. General Business Law Section 399-z allows the national Do Not Call Registry to serve as New York’s registry, and it requires telemarketers to stop calling a number within 31 days of registration. Register once at donotcall.gov and both state and federal rules apply.
Which court hears a New York robocall case?
TCPA claims go to federal court. New York has four districts: the Southern District in Manhattan and White Plains, the Eastern District in Brooklyn and Central Islip, the Northern District in Albany and Syracuse, and the Western District in Buffalo and Rochester. We file in the district that covers where you live or where the calls reached you.
Do I need a New York lawyer?
Not necessarily. The TCPA is a federal statute, so a robocall claim does not depend on hiring a lawyer licensed in New York. Cases are handled nationwide under the federal TCPA. Local counsel is associated where New York rules require it.
Does New York law add anything to a TCPA claim?
A little. Section 399-p gives a consumer a private claim of actual damages or $50 per violation, up to $1,000 if the violation was willful, plus attorney’s fees. Section 399-z adds the calling-hours, caller ID and written-consent rules that the Department of State enforces. The federal TCPA’s prerecorded call rules supply the $500 to $1,500 per call.
What are New York’s telemarketing calling hours?
Section 399-z limits telemarketing sales calls to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the customer’s location unless the customer agreed to other hours. The federal telemarketing rules use the same window. A pattern of calls outside those hours is worth noting in your log because it helps show the caller ignores the rules.
Explore: Wrong-number robocalls · How to sue a telemarketer · Robocall rules in every state · Settlements
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