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Express Capital Lending, you know, one of those fly by night
mortgage companies that has no balls and has to result to the
Neanderthal methods of broadcast faxing is sure pissing off a
lot of people these days. somehow, some idiot over there at expresscap.com
decided to start broadcast faxing there latest rip-you-off mortgage
offer. If you get a unsolicited fax from anyone, her are the
steps you need to get them to stop and make them pay.
1) Call your State Attorney General and
write a letter. For California it's
Bill Lockyer
California Department of Justice
Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
You can file a consumer complaint
here at
http://caag.state.ca.us/consumers/mailform.htm
2) Keep all faxes as evidence
3) Send the company a bill / invoice /
demand letter for $500 per incident
4) Sue them in Small Claims Court
Broadcast Fax Illegal Under
United States Law
Under 47 U.S. Code 227 it is unlawful "to use any telephone
facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited
advertisement" to any "equipment which has the capacity
(A) to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic
signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper."
The law allows individuals to sue the sender of such illegal
"junk mail" for $500 per copy. Most states will permit
such actions to be filed in Small Claims Court.
Here is the text of the federal
law:
From the U.S. Code Online services
by Cornell Law [Laws in effect as of January 24, 1994] [Document
affected by Public Law 103-414 Section 303(a)(11)]
[CITE: 47USC227]
TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES,
AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
SUBCHAPTER II--COMMON CARRIERS
Sec. 227. Restrictions on use
of telephone equipment
(a) Definitions
As used in this section-- * * *
The term "telephone facsimile
machine" means equipment which has the capacity (A) to transcribe
text or images, or both, from paper into an electronic signal
and to transmit that signal over a regular telephone line, or
(B) to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic
signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper. * *
*
(4) The term "unsolicited advertisement" means any
material advertising the commercial availability or quality of
any property, goods, or services which is transmitted to any
person without that person's prior express invitation or permission.
(b) Restrictions on use of automated telephone equipment
(1) Prohibitions
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States
-- to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other
device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile
machine; * * *
(c) to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other
device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile
machine; * * *
(3) Private right of action
A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws or
rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court of that
State--
(A) an action based on a violation of this subsection or the
regulations prescribed under this subsection to enjoin such violation,
(B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from such a
violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such violation,
whichever is greater, or
(C) both such actions.
If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly
violated this subsection or the regulations prescribed under
this subsection, the court may, in its discretion, increase the
amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times
the amount available under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
* * *
(e) Effect on State law
(1) State law not preempted
Except for the standards prescribed under subsection (d) of this
section and subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, nothing
in this section or in the regulations prescribed under this section
shall preempt any State law that imposes more restrictive intrastate
requirements or regulations on, or which prohibits--
(A) the use of telephone facsimile machines or other electronic
devices to send unsolicited advertisements; * * *
[ Amended 1992: Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 102-556 added subpar.
(C). ]
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 17538.4.
(a) No person or entity conducting
business in this state shall fax or cause to be faxed documents
consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease,
sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty,
goods, services, or extension of credit unless that person or
entity establishes a toll-free telephone number which a recipient
of the unsolicited faxed documents may call to notify the sender
not to fax the recipient any further unsolicited documents.
(b) All unsolicited faxed documents subject to this section shall
include a statement, in at least 9-point type, informing the
recipient of the toll-free telephone number the recipient may
call, and an address the recipient may write to, notifying the
sender not to fax the recipient any further unsolicited documents
to the fax number, or numbers, specified by the recipient.
(c) Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not
to receive any further unsolicited faxed documents, no person
or entity conducting business in this state shall fax or cause
to be faxed any unsolicited documents to that recipient.
(d) Any violation of subdivision
(c) is an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars
($500) for each and every transmission.
(e) As used in this section,
"fax" or "cause to be faxed" shall not include
or refer to the transmission of any documents by a telecommunications
utility to the extent that the telecommunications utility merely
carries that transmission over its network.
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