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FTC Moves to Create National "Do Not Call" List
by Debbi
Conrad
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has amended its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to create a new national "do not call" registry. It will be illegal for most telemarketers or sellers to place interstate calls to a number listed on the FTC registry. Once the FTC receives Congressional approval for funding, the following will occur:
- In about four months, consumers will begin registering for free online or by calling a toll-free number. To avoid an unmanageable flood of registrations, the initial sign-up by phone for the national "do not call" registry will be phased in, region-by-region, over a two-month period.
- In about six months, telemarketers and other sellers will have access to the registry Web site. They will be required to "scrub" their call lists against the national "do not call" registry at least once every 90 days. There will be an annual fee.
- In about seven months, the FTC will start enforcing the national "do not call" registry provisions of the amended TSR. Violators are subject to a fine of up to $11,000 per violation.
Keep checking for updates to the FTC implementation schedule for the national "do not call" registry at
www.ftc.gov/donotcall.
Who is covered by the amended TSR?
The TSR applies to any plan, program or campaign to sell goods or services through interstate phone calls. This includes telemarketers who solicit consumers, often on behalf of third party sellers. It also includes sellers who provide, offer to provide, or arrange to provide goods or services to consumers in exchange for payment. For example, the TSR will apply to interstate cold calls made by
REALTORSŪ.
What are the other new provisions in the TSR?
In addition to establishing a national do not call registry, other new provisions will:
- Crack down on unauthorized billing by telemarketers;
- Impose tight new restrictions on the practice of "call abandonment" where a consumer rushes to answer the phone, only to find dead air; and
- Require telemarketers to transmit Caller-ID information, so that consumers who subscribe to Caller-ID services will know who is calling.
These portions of the amended TSR will go into effect in a couple of months, except for the caller ID transmission provision which does not go into effect for another year.
What provisions remain in the TSR?
The following provisions of the TSR are currently in effect and have not changed:
- Telemarketers and sellers may call consumers only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
- Telemarketers must promptly identify themselves as a seller and explain that they're making a sales call before pitching a product or service.
- Telemarketers must disclose all material information about the goods or services they are offering and the terms of the sale. Misrepresenting any terms or conditions of the sale is prohibited.
How will the national "do not call" registry work?
Under the amended TSR, telemarketers and sellers will be required to search the registry at least quarterly and drop from their call list the phone numbers of consumers who have registered. A dedicated, fully automated and secure Web site will provide this information to telemarketers and sellers. The only consumer information telemarketers and sellers will receive access from the national registry is a registrant's telephone number. Consumers' phone numbers will be sorted and available by area code. Each company accessing the registry data will be required to pay an annual fee based on the number of area codes the company accesses. A consumer's number will stay on the registry for five years.
What about an established business relationship?
The amended TSR includes a few exceptions that may be beneficial to
REALTORSŪ:
- A telemarketer or seller may call a consumer with whom it has an established business relationship for up to 18 months after the consumer's last purchase, delivery, or payment-even if the consumer's number is on the national "do not call" registry.
- A company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company.
- If a consumer has given a company written permission, the company may call the consumer even if the consumer's number is on the national "do not call" registry (similar to the Wisconsin do not call rules).
H REALTORŪ Practice Tip: If a consumer asks a company not to call, the company may not call, even if there is an established business relationship and regardless of whether the consumer's number is on the FTC registry.
How does the national "do not call" registry square with state "do not call" lists?
The FTC is working to coordinate the FTC do not call registry with the states to avoid duplication. Check the FTC's website at
www.ftc.gov/donotcall and watch your Wisconsin
REALTORŪ publications for updates.
For more information on the Telemarketing Sales Rule, visit www.ftc.gov/donotcall.
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NAR: December Existing Home Sales Rise, Annual Record Smashed
Sales of existing single-family homes rose strongly in December while 2002 easily set a new annual record, according to the National Association of
RealtorsŪ.
There were a total of 5,563,000 exiting-home sales in 2002, up 5.0 percent from the previous record of 5,296,000 in 2001. NAR began tracking the sales series in 1968.
Existing-home sales increased 5.2 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate* of 5.86 million units from an upwardly revised level of 5.57 million units in November. Last month's sales activity was 12.7 percent higher than the 5.20-million unit level in December 2001 and was the third-strongest monthly sales pace on record.
David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said a combination of favorable market conditions has been contributing to record housing activity. "Exceptionally low mortgage interest rates are the primary factor in record levels of home sales," he said. "Interest rates are the lowest they've ever been in Freddie Mac's records, and looking at other sources we have to go back to 1965 to see similar mortgage rates."
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was a record-low 6.05 percent in December, down from 6.09 percent in November; it was 7.07 percent in December 2001. The average 30-year rate for all of 2002 was 6.95 percent, the lowest annual average since Freddie Mac started tracking interest rates in 1971.
"Strong demand by first-time home buyers, fueled by the children of the baby boom generation and by immigration, along with a generally good job market and growing families trading-up to larger homes, also has been contributing to record home sales activity," Lereah said.
NAR President Cathy Whatley said the momentum of home sales is expected to remain strong. "With favorable affordability conditions and an improving economy, home sales are projected to remain strong in 2003 and should come fairly close to record levels, but it's unlikely they'll top last year's record-smashing performance," she said.
"Because the overall economy is expected to improve this year, mortgage interest rates should rise modestly," Whatley said. "For the near term, this means we have the most favorable housing affordability conditions that can be expected all year. The only problem is a localized shortage of homes available for sale in many of the markets that have had a tight supply over the last year."
Housing inventory levels fell 10.8 percent at the end of December with 2.06 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 5.0-month supply in November.
The national median existing-home price was $164,000 in December, up 7.1 percent from December 2001 when the median price was $153,100. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
For all of 2002, the median price was $158,300, up 7.1 percent from a median of $147,800 in 2001. This is the strongest annual increase since 1980 when the median price rose 11.7 percent.
Regionally, homes in the Midwest were reselling at an annual rate of 1.36 million units in December, up 12.4 percent from November; they also were 12.4 percent above December 2001. The median price in the Midwest was $137,300, up 4.6 percent from a year ago.
Existing-home sales in the South rose 4.6 percent in December to an annual rate of 2.29 million units, and were 11.7 percent higher than December 2001. The median price of an existing home in the South was $155,200, which was 6.7 percent higher than December 2001.
The home resale pace in the West rose 2.0 percent from November to an annual rate of 1.56 million units in December; the pace was 17.3 stronger than December 2001. The median existing-home price in the West was $215,200, up 11.3 percent from the same month a year earlier.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales rose 1.6 percent from November to a pace of 650,000 units in December, and were 6.6 percent higher than a year ago. The median existing-home price in the Northeast was $173,000, up 11.1 percent from December 2001.
The National Association of RealtorsŪ, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than 840,000 members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
*The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns.
The next existing-home sales release is scheduled for February 25, at 10 a.m. EST. The next national outlook release is scheduled for February 5.
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