If bill collectors have ever used an auto-dialer (a.k.a. “robo-call”) to ring you up on your cell phone, they could be in big trouble.
It is not the bankruptcy code per se that prevents this, but a related federal consumer protection law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Florida attorney Chip Parker has posted a nice article on how this law works here.
The key to the TCPA is that every single call that violates it is subject to a $500 penalty, so collection agencies that are in violation can rack up a huge liability fast.
One of the catches, though, is that if your cell phone is your only phone, and therefore the only place you can be reached, call to that number are allowed. You have the option however, of informing the creditor that they are calling a cell phone, at which point they are required to honor your request that they stop calling it.
By Doug Beaton