AUSTIN, TX -- Consumers Union is attempting to amplify residents' refrain of frustration -- "Stop calling my home!!"

The non-profit consumer advocacy agency says laws protecting consumers from harassing and unscrupulous telemarketing practices need strengthening.

Telemarketing fraud costs consumers $40 billion each year, and typically preys on older residents who are often home bound.

With more information available to telemarketers through weak privacy laws, the Internet and new data mining techniques, consumers need more protection than ever. Current laws just don't go far enough protecting people from the two biggest telemarketing problems -- fraud and frequency.

"You have two kinds of problems in telemarketing, the pests and the predators," said Reggie James, director of CU's Southwest Regional Office in Austin, TX.

CU says curbing both requires law to make it easier for consumers to get on no-call lists.

In Texas, for instance, the laws says residents must notify each solicitor individually to be placed on a no-call list and telephone solicitors must make only "every effort" to avoid calling consumers who request not to be called.

James wants a statewide Texas no-call list and the process simplified. He suggests legislators draft laws that require a page in the phone book for consumers to fill out and mail in to be placed on a no-call list.

Along with the page, there should be information on consumers' rights including current laws and regulations. Not only would that help consumers avoid the pests, but it would also help consumers recognize the predators.

"Right now there are a lot of loopholes and many companies are not registered," James said. "I'd like to see some of those loopholes closed."

Companies selling insurance and food, for instance, don't have to register as telemarketers in Texas.

Once a company is registered, CU believes it should be required to identify itself immediately in the call. Companies should also give their phone number and tell exactly what they're selling and how much it will cost.

This gives consumers the chance to verify the validity of a company before buying anything and they will know exactly what they are purchasing and how much it costs.

Consumers Union also wants stiffer penalties for those who violate the laws.

"The only way to enforce the laws is to make the penalties for fraud as stiff as possible and put more power for enforcement into the consumers' hands," said James.

Strengthening the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) to allow consumers to sue for attorneys fees and a refund when faced with telemarketing fraud would create the kind of unfriendly atmosphere that would deter fraudulent activities without a large regulatory force, he said.

"You have to make it easy for consumers to avoid the calls they don't want and simplify the legal process when they are wronged or harmed." James said.

Published: June 22, 2000

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.