☎️ The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has strict rules and penalties for companies that call or text the wrong number, with statutory damages ranging from $500 to 1,500 per call or text. Due to these regulations, companies have paid millions in class action settlements even when the wrong party is contacted unintentionally. 

How can you protect your company from TCPA liability?

🗂On November 1, 2021, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) – a database that tracks reassigned cell numbers to prevent consumers from getting unwanted calls intended for the previous owner of the same phone number.

Companies that register and use RND can reduce their liability risks in 2 ways:

✅ They are able to check the database to see if the number to be called was reassigned or placed on the do-not-call registry

✅ They are also protected from any liability that may come from incomplete or incorrect information in the RND

➡️ What are the steps you need to take to be protected from TCPA liability once you’ve registered? You’ll need to show:

・ Consent from the recipient of intended call or text

・ You’ve queried the up-to-date RND database before calling or texting the number

・ You didn’t receive a report from the RND that the number was permanently disconnected on or after the date of consent

– Don’t forget to include third-party vendors who are calling or sending text messages on your behalf when assessing your TCPA compliance. 

👉🏼 Need more guidance on business laws? Contact me to learn more about how my services can help you achieve your business goals!

One study shows that 15%+ of a person’s job satisfaction is based on how satisfied they are with their work meetings!

5 tips to improve your work productivity and happiness

1️⃣ Look at your calendar with the intent to delete all of your meetings. Ask yourself why you need to keep any of them. Only keep the meetings that would be the best and highest use of your time. Cancel or decline the others and see if you’re more productive.

2️⃣ Try shortening your meetings by 15 minutes each week until you get the best length.

3️⃣ Have a clear purpose and agenda for all meetings or ask for these before you accept a meeting. If the meeting is not the best use of your time then consider declining the meeting.

4️⃣ Do you have daily/weekly/monthly recurring meetings? Try cancelling them and only scheduling those meetings when they are most valuable. Try sharing info via Microsoft Teams, productivity apps like Monday.com, or a shared google doc instead.

5️⃣ Be ok with not being at meetings. Feel confident in your decision to be productive in other ways.

Want more tips? Read “Joy At Work” by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein.

Need an efficient business lawyer? Schedule a free 15 min consult with me!

📖 Negative option billing models – while there are various types, these models typically have a term or condition under which the business may interpret the consumer’s inaction to cancel an agreement or refuse a good or service as acceptance of their offer, including the continuation of the offer
– Some common types: automatic renewal, continuity plans, free-to-pay conversions 

💥📝 In response to an increase in complaints about unauthorized charges and difficult cancellation processes, the FTC recently issued a new enforcement policy statement warning companies that they’ll face legal action if they don’t meet these 3 requirements

📚 Summary of the 3 Key Requirements

1️⃣ Provide clear and upfront disclosures of all material terms of the product/service
✔️ Information about the product/service needed to prevent deception about the characteristics of product/service
✔️ Price increase following the end of the trial period and, if applicable, recurring charges unless consumer takes timely actions
✔️ Price to be billed and frequency of billing
✔️ Deadlines by which the consumer must act to stop charges
✔️ Date(s) each charge is submitted for payment
✔️ How to cancel
✔️ Disclosures must be easily noticeable, easy to understand, and not contain any additional information that undermines the consumer’s ability to understand the disclosures 

2️⃣ Receive consumer’s affirmative consent
✔️ Obtain consumer’s acceptance of the negative option feature separately from any other portion of the entire transaction
✔️ Not contain any additional information that undermines the consumer’s ability to provide expressed informed consent

3️⃣ Offer a simple and easy cancellation method
✔️ Provide cancellation method through the same medium and at least as easy as the method used to buy the product/service
✔️ Do not subject consumers to new offers or impose unreasonable delays to the consumer’s cancellation efforts

🎯 Contact me if you need help making sure your business’s marketing is under compliance with the law!

In an effort to reduce complaints and chargebacks from consumers and stay up to date with federal and state laws, Mastercard’s new requirements focus on point of payment disclosures with an extra set of requirements for negative options.

📅Key dates to know:
📌September 22, 2022: New point of payment disclosure requirements in effect 
📌March 22, 2022: All other requirements in effect 

📚 Quick Summary of Rule Changes for Merchants:

1️⃣ Point of Payment Disclosures
✔️Subscription/Recurring Billing Models 
・Must disclose subscription terms, including price and frequency of billing, and receive affirmative consent of terms
✔️Negative Option Billing Model
・Must disclose the terms and length of the trial period, including any initial charges, and the price and frequency of the following subscription. 
・Disclosures must be on the same screen as the order summary or where consumers enter their card information
・What is not accepted: requiring consumers to click on a link, scroll down the page, or expand a message box to see the terms

2️⃣ Enrollment Confirmation
・Must send a confirmation of enrollment to the consumer’s email or any other electronic method immediately following enrollment
・Confirmation must include the terms of subscription, the terms of a trial (if applicable), and clear instructions on how to cancel the subscription

3️⃣ Receipts
・Must send a receipt after each subscription billing by email or any other electronic method and include clear instructions on how to cancel the subscription

4️⃣ Reminders
✔️Negative Option Billing Model or Subscription/Recurring Billing Models with 6 Month+ Billing Periods
・Must send subscription reminders to consumers by email or any other electronic method between three and seven days before the card is automatically charged
・Notifications must contain the basic terms of the subscription and instructions on how to cancel the subscription prior to each billing date
✔️Additional Requirement for Negative Option Billing Model 
・Must send notifications prior to automatic enrollment in the full plan, inform the consumer that the subscription plan will begin at the end of the trial period unless canceled before the stated date, contain the basic terms of subscription, and instructions on how to cancel the subscription
・Note: Does not apply to high-risk negative option billing merchants offering a trial of a physical good that automatically enrolls consumer into a subscription plan following the end of the trial period 

5️⃣ Electronic Cancellation Method
・Must provide a simple and easy online or electronic cancellation method to subscribers 

🎯 Contact me if you need help with your disclosure, receipt, notification, and cancellation policies!