Florida Residents Sue Telemarketer

Florida’s Agriculture and Consumer Services Commission filed suit this week on behalf of Volusia County residents against the telemarketing firm Suite Choice, Inc. of Ormond Beach. The residents who are on the Florida “Do Not Call’ list received as many as 18 telemarketing calls from Suite Choice back in 2007.

Florida’s Do Not Call Law states that “No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made any unsolicited telephonic sales call to any residential, mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone number if the number for that telephone appears in the then-current quarterly listing published by the department.” The lawsuit seeks an injunction which would prohibit Suite Choice from calling residents again, and according to the statute, they can be fined up to $10,000 for each subsequent call made to numbers on the Do Not Call List.

There is an initial $10 fee and an annual renewal of $5 to be on the Do Not Call List and only home phones, cell phones and personal pagers can be the list; no businesses can be listed. Any one wishing to be added to the list can call 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352), or the Spanish help line en Español 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832), to have an application received by mail. The form can also be downloaded from the Division of Consumer Services website.