Without fearing they are violating the federal Do Not Call Registry rules, real estate agents likely can call home owners selling their own homes if the real estate agent has a buyer who wants to make a deal.

That's an interpretation presented by Federal Trade Commission commissioner Mozelle Thompson during a panel discussion at last week's National Association of Realtors Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

The comments were not the final word on the issue, but likely will be once the Federal Communications Commission officially rules on the matter. The approach to calling FSBOs (for sale by owner) is consistent with guidance the NAR has given real estate professionals.

Real estate agents, however, cannot telephone solicitations to FSBOs without having an interested buyer or they will be in violation of the Do Not Call list restriction, according to Thompson.

The federal Do Not Call Registry has attracted the owners of almost 55 million telephone numbers, indisputable evidence households don't want to have to hang up on telemarketers, but would rather telemarketers not call them.

The FCC regulates intrastate aspects of the Do Not Call registry and is looking at the NAR inquiry also to clarify whether calls to FSBOs and owners with expired listing agreements would violate the registry rules.

Because most FSBOs end up frustrated and hire a real estate agent or other professional, they've been an obvious marketing target for years. Real estate agents earlier this year lost some state level Do Not Call exemptions on intrastate farming.

Thompson said consumers have been clear about their wish to end unsolicited marketing calls and don't distinguish between the feelers real estate agents put out and hard core telemarketers trying to sell goods and services.

Federal agencies have said they have a mandate to provide a strong standard for telephone marketing -- even if it means preempting state do-not-call laws that aren't as strong as the federal registry.

After households and others register their phone numbers with the registry they are soon supposed to be rid of most unwanted telemarketing calls for five years. Telemarketers who violate the law can be fined up to $11,000 for each illegal call.

Federal and state agencies have said they were going to swiftly and decisively enforce the law after court challenges failed to delay or disrupt the registry which now has some 55 million phone numbers and 63,000 complaints.

The California Attorney General last week sued a Hayward, CA-based home improvement company, the nation's first such do-not-call action under the federal registry's rules.

Some 60 million consumers are ultimately expected to sign up to turn off telemarketers.

Published: November 13, 2003

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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.