Kansas No-Call Act (K.S.A. § 50-670, et seq.)

Kansas No-Call Act

K.S.A. § 50-670, et seq.

 

CITATION:

50-670. Kansas no-call act; definitions; requirements and prohibitions; remedies. (a) As used in this section and K.S.A. 50-670a, and amendments thereto:

(1) "Consumer telephone call" means a call made by a telephone solicitor to the residence or mobile telephone number of a consumer for the purpose of soliciting a sale of any property or services to the person called, or for the purpose of soliciting an extension of credit for property or services to the person called, or for the purpose of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation of a sale of property or services to the person called or an extension of credit for such purposes.

(2) "Mobile telephone number" means a telephone number associated with a wireless telecommunications service as defined in K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 12-5363, and amendments thereto.

(3) "Unsolicited consumer telephone call" means a consumer telephone call other than a call made:

(A) In response to an express request or with the express written agreement of the person called;

(B) primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract, payment or performance of which has not been completed at the time of such call; or

(C) to any person with whom the telephone solicitor or the telephone solicitor's predecessor in interest has an established business relationship, unless the consumer has objected to such consumer telephone calls and requested that the telephone solicitor cease making consumer telephone calls. The telephone solicitor shall honor any such request for five years from the date of such request.

(4) "Telephone solicitor" means any natural person, firm, organization, partnership, association or corporation who makes or causes to be made a consumer telephone call, including, but not limited to, calls made by use of automatic dialing-announcing device.

(5) "Automatic dialing-announcing device" means any user terminal equipment which:

(A) When connected to a telephone line can dial, with or without manual assistance, telephone numbers which have been stored or programmed in the device or are produced or selected by a random or sequential number generator; or

(B) when connected to a telephone line can disseminate a recorded message to the telephone number called, either with or without manual assistance.

(6) "Negative response" means a statement from a consumer indicating the consumer does not wish to listen to the sales presentation or participate in the solicitation presented in the consumer telephone call.

(7) "Established business relationship" means a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between a person or entity and consumer with or without an exchange of consideration, on a basis of an application, purchase or transaction by the consumer, within the 18 months immediately preceding the date of the consumer telephone call, regarding products or services offered by such person or entity, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party.

(b) Any telephone solicitor who makes an unsolicited consumer telephone call shall:

(1) Identify themselves;

(2) identify the business on whose behalf such person is soliciting;

(3) identify the purpose of the call immediately upon making contact by telephone with the person who is the object of the telephone solicitation;

(4) promptly discontinue the solicitation if the person being solicited gives a negative response at any time during the consumer telephone call;

(5) hang up the phone, or in the case of an automatic dialing-announcing device operator, disconnect the automatic dialing-announcing device from the telephone line within 25 seconds of the termination of the call by the person being called; and

(6) a live operator or an automated dialing-announcing device shall answer the line within five seconds of the beginning of the call. If answered by automated dialing-announcing device, the message provided shall include only the information required in subsection (b)(1) and (2), but shall not contain any unsolicited advertisement.

(c) A telephone solicitor shall not withhold the display of the telephone solicitor's telephone number from a caller identification service when that number is being used for telemarketing purposes.

(d) A telephone solicitor shall not transmit any written information by facsimile machine or computer to a consumer after the consumer requests orally or in writing that such transmissions cease.

(e) A telephone solicitor shall not obtain by use of any professional delivery, courier or other pickup service receipt or possession of a consumer's payment unless the goods are delivered with the opportunity to inspect before any payment is collected.

(f) Local exchange carriers and telecommunications carriers shall not be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of this section.

(g) Any violation of this section is an unconscionable act or practice under the Kansas consumer protection act.

(h) This section shall be part of and supplemental to the Kansas consumer protection act.

History: L. 1991, ch. 158, § 2; L. 1992, ch. 252, § 9; L. 1997, ch. 172, § 1; L. 1998, ch. 156, § 2; L. 2000, ch. 91, § 2; L. 2002, ch. 179, § 1; L. 2014, ch. 18, § 1; July 1.

 

50-670a. Same; no-call list; prohibitions; remedies; attorney general, powers and duties. (a) Prior to making unsolicited consumer telephone calls in this state and not less frequently than every 30 days thereafter, a telephone solicitor shall consult the no-call list provided for by this act, and shall delete from such telephone solicitor's calling list all telephone numbers of consumers appearing on such list. The attorney general shall direct consumers desiring to register their telephone number on the no-call list to contact the federal trade commission to register on the national no-call list.

(b) Telephone solicitors shall have a period of not more than 30 days from the time of registration of a consumer's telephone number on the no-call list to remove that telephone number from the telephone solicitor's calling lists.

(c) No telephone solicitor may make or cause to be made any unsolicited consumer telephone calls to any consumer if the consumer's telephone number or numbers appear on the no-call list. A telephone solicitor shall not use the no-call list for any other purpose than to remove consumers' telephone numbers from calling lists.

(d) A telephone solicitor shall be liable for violations of subsections (b) and (c) if such telephone solicitor makes or causes to be made an unsolicited telephone call to a consumer whose telephone number appears on the no-call list or uses the list for any unauthorized purpose.

(e) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of this section if the telephone solicitor can demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, that: (1) The telephone solicitor at the time of the alleged violation had: (A) Obtained a copy of the updated no-call list; (B) established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent unsolicited consumer telephone calls in violation of this section; (C) trained the telephone solicitor's personnel in the requirements of this section; and (D) maintained records demonstrating compliance with this section; and (2) the unsolicited consumer telephone call was the result of an error. Such defense shall not be exercised by a telephone solicitor more than once within the state of Kansas in any 12-month period. A telephone solicitor shall be deemed to have exercised such defense if asserted in response to any consumer complaint about a violation of this section, regardless of whether litigation has been initiated.

(f) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of this section if the telephone solicitor can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that: (1) The consumer affirmatively listed or held out to the public such consumer's residential or mobile telephone number as a business number; (2) the telephone solicitor had knowledge of and relied upon such consumer's actions as provided in subsection (f)(1) at the time of the telephone solicitor's alleged violation; and (3) the purpose of the call was directly related to the consumer's business.

(g) Any violation of this section is an unconscionable act or practice under the Kansas consumer protection act.

(h) The attorney general may request information from the federal trade commission for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this section and may comply with requirements of the federal trade commission to receive such information.

(i) Penalties and fees recovered from prosecutions of violations of this section shall be paid to the attorney general to investigate and prosecute violations of this section.

(j) The attorney general may convene a meeting or meetings with consumer advocacy groups to collectively develop a method or methods to notify the consumer advocacy group's membership and educate and promote to consumers generally the availability of the no-call list, and of a telephone solicitor's obligations under this section.

(k) On or before the first day of each regular legislative session, the attorney general shall report to the standing committees of the house and senate which hear and act on legislation relating to telecommunications issues on the status of implementation of the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, the number of consumers who have given notice of objection, the number of requests for the data base, state revenues received from the respective sources of revenue under this section, the number of complaints received alleging violations of this section and actions taken to enforce the provisions of this section.

(l) The national no-call list established and maintained by the federal trade commission shall be designated as the Kansas no-call list.

(m) The attorney general may promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of the Kansas no-call act. The attorney general is authorized to promulgate state rules and regulations adopting provisions of federal trade commission regulations implementing the national do not call law, including, but not limited to, the telemarketing sales rule, 16 C.F.R. part 310. Any violation of rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section shall be considered a violation of this section.

(n) The provisions of this section shall be a part of and supplemental to the Kansas consumer protection act.

(o) The provisions of this section and K.S.A. 50-670, and amendments thereto, shall be known and may be cited as the Kansas no-call act.

History: L. 2002, ch. 179, § 2; L. 2014, ch. 18, § 2; July 1.

 

For more information, see here:  http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2014/b2013_14/statute/050_000_0000_chapter/050_006_0000_article/050_006_0070a_section/050_006_0070a_k/

 

These materials were obtained directly from the State Legislative websites and are posted here for your review and reference only.  No Claim to Original State Government Works.  This may not be the most recent version.  The State may have more current information.  We make no guarantees or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of this information, or the information linked to.  Please check the linked sources directly.