FCC Rules Creditors, Collectors May Call Cell Phones with Autodialers, Prerecorded Messages

Creditors and collectors may use autodialers and prerecorded calls to contact consumers on their mobile phones, the Federal Communications Commission announced in a ruling handed down today.

In its ruling reached on Dec. 28, the FCC determined that autodialed and prerecorded calls made to wireless numbers provided by the called party in connection with an existing debt are made with the “prior express consent” by the called party

Providing a creditor with a cell phone number during a credit application “reasonably evidences prior express consent by the cell phone subscriber to be contacted at that number regarding the debt,” the FCC wrote.

Prior to this ruling, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) had generally prohibited auto-dialer and prerecorded calls to a mobile phone unless there was prior consent by the consumer. The FCC noted in 2003 that one intent of the TCPA was to reduce unwanted calls; it also recognized that wireless customers are charged for incoming calls.

The decision is a victory for collectors and ACA International, the trade group that filed a petition in 2005 challenging the previous interpretation of the TCPA.