How much are TCPA damages per call?
$500 per call, and up to $1,500 per call if a court finds the violation was willful or knowing. The figure is per violation, not per matter, and one call can breach more than one rule.
The TCPA sets damages at $500 per violation, and allows a court to increase that to as much as $1,500 per violation if it finds the business acted willfully or knowingly. The figures are in 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), which covers autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts made without consent, and § 227(c)(5), which covers telemarketing calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The person called can recover actual loss instead if it is higher, which it almost never is.
How the count is built
Each call is one violation under each rule it breaches. An autodialed marketing call to a cell phone on the registry, made without written consent, can be counted under § 227(b) and under § 227(c), and some courts have allowed recovery under both. For a Florida recipient, Fla. Stat. § 501.059 adds its own $500 to $1,500 per call. So the per-call figure in a demand letter can be $500, $1,000, $1,500, $3,000 or higher depending on which provisions the letter counts under and whether the state act applies. See whether FTSA damages stack.
Willful or knowing
The trebling test asks whether the business knew it was making the call, not whether it knew the call was illegal. Calls that continue after a STOP, after the number was registered, or after a previous letter are the easiest to characterise as knowing, which is why suppressing the numbers in a demand letter on day one matters so much. Messages after a STOP are the clearest case; see how fast do I have to honour a STOP reply.
What the letter's figure is
A demand letter usually asks for less than the statutory exposure on the listed calls, because resolving at this stage saves both sides the cost of a filed case. The arithmetic is checkable: count the rows, multiply by $500 and by $1,500, add the state figure if it applies. Whether the count is right is a question for your records.
People also ask
Is it $500 per person or per call?
Per call. A person who received eight calls has eight violations. Under the Do Not Call rule in § 227(c)(5) the claim arises once a person has received more than one call in a twelve-month period, and then each call counts.
What makes a violation willful or knowing?
Courts have generally not required intent to break the law, only that the business knew it was making the call. Calls after a STOP, after a registry listing, or after a demand letter are the clearest examples.
Does the recipient also get their lawyer’s fees?
The federal statute has no general fee-shifting provision. Some state statutes allow fees, and a class action settlement typically includes them.