Another California real estate-related company has the dubious honor of becoming another "first" in Do Not Call law enforcement efforts.

In a Dec. 18 certified letter, the Federal Communications Commission cited CPM Funding of Irvine, CA and doing business as California Pacific Mortgage, for violations of the federal Do Not Call registry.

The FCC also threatened a $11,000 fine per violation, as prescribed by the law, if the company continued to contact consumers who have placed their telephone numbers on the federal registry of phone numbers of people who do not want to receive telemarketing calls.

The company did not dispute FCC charges made a month earlier nor did it demonstrate that it was complying with the law, so the agency issued the citation warning of planned enforcement and requesting the company to demonstrate remedial action.

The first such federal action makes good federal officials' promise to swiftly and decisively enforce the new Do Not Call registry which now has some 55 million phone numbers and 63,000 complaints.

"This is a landmark enforcement step -- the first FCC action to enforce our new National Do Not Call rules. This citation demonstrates our resolve to ensure that consumers are not bothered by unwanted, intrusive calls to their homes. Do Not Call enforcement is the FCC's top consumer protection priority and we, along with our partners at the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), will continue to be vigilant in this area on behalf of the American public," said the FCC's enforcement bureau chief David H. Solomon.

Since fall of 2003, households and others who registered their phone numbers with the federal registry were to be rid of most unwanted telemarketing calls for the five years. Telemarketers who violate the law can be fined up to $11,000 for each illegal call.

Another California company, Hayward-based, American Home Craft, Inc. a home improvement firm, was actually the first company charged with violating federal Do Not Call rules, but charges were filed at the state level.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed the civil complaint against American Home Craft in the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco.

That company was also charged with making calls to people who had placed their numbers on the federal Do Not Call List.

California, however, filed the charges under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) which allows the court to award up to $500 for each violation, and up to $1,500 per violation for each violation ruled as done with intent. California's unfair competition statute provides for civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation. The actual amount of penalties obtained against American Home Craft will depend on the number of violations proven at trial, but the Attorney General's complaint asks the court for at least $100,000.

The state filed suit under the TCPA, rather than the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) which also enforces the national no-call list and calls for stiffer penalties -- up to $11,000 for each illegal call -- because the telemarketing calls occurred entirely within California.

The TSR applies only to calls that cross state lines. The TCPA has broader jurisdiction. California's own do-not-call law was slated to take effect Jan. 1, 2004 and will provide for penalties as stiff as those available under TSR.