Insights

Safeguarding Debt Collectors from TCPA Violations: The Importance of Checking for Disconnected Phone Numbers

Jul 17, 2024

It's no surprise that debt collection agencies must carefully navigate numerous compliance challenges to avoid significant penalties. Common restrictions include call time limitations, in which the TCPA mandates that calls should only be made between 8 AM and 9 PM local time. Additionally, debt collection laws dictate that you cannot make calls to a mobile phone using an auto-dialer without prior consent.

While debt collection agencies may be exempt from restrictions on calling numbers listed in the National Do Not Call (DNC) registry, they are not immune to the complications arising from disconnected numbers. When a phone number is disconnected and then reassigned to a new user, calling that number can result in nuisance calls to unintended recipients. This can quickly escalate into costly TCPA violations – between $500-$1,500 per violation. Not only can these unintended calls cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, but they also cost operational time and contact center efficiencies.

To mitigate the risk of calling disconnected and reassigned numbers, debt collectors can leverage RealAgent to query the Federal Communications Commission’s Reassigned Numbers Database (RND). The RND is a comprehensive resource that allows debt collectors and telemarketing agencies that make outbound calls or texts to check whether a number has been disconnected and potentially reassigned to a new user. By querying this database before making a call, debt collectors and telemarketing agencies can significantly reduce the risk of TCPA violations.

RealAgent is a robust solution designed to help debt collectors and telemarketing agencies stay compliant with TCPA regulations by:

• Extracting data from the FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database with ease.
• Processing responses received, and delivering data in a simple, digestible format.
• Reducing the cost of querying the RND directly with our agent pricing.
• Increasing Safe Harbor protection from TCPA violations.

By integrating RealAgent into your workflow, you can easily query the RND to ensure that the numbers you are calling have not been disconnected and potentially reassigned. This proactive step not only protects you from costly TCPA violations but also enhances your agency's reputation as a responsible and ethical operator in the debt collection industry.

Ensure your agency is taking the necessary steps to avoid TCPA violations — start leveraging RealAgent to access the Reassigned Numbers Database today.