Do Not Call Policy

It is the policy of Guardian Financial Publishing LLC and its affiliates, managers, employees, and agents (the “Company”) to comply with all laws and regulations governing consumer outreach efforts. Among these laws and regulations are the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), a federal statute, and its related rules and regulations. All Company staff, personnel, and vendors must comply with all TCPA statutory rules and related regulations at all times. This policy addresses all Do-Not-Call (“DNC”) requirements and policies contained therein. It is the Company’s policy not to call numbers on the National DNC Registry for marketing purposes unless a valid exemption exists in accordance with the applicable Do Not Call regulations. SMS and MMS text messages are considered calls under the TCPA, as potentially an email if directed to a phone number.

Background

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has issued regulations that establish a national DNC registry, regulations requiring maintenance of an internal DNC list, and other related requirements pursuant to the TCPA.  The FCC regulations prohibit all commercial telemarketers from calling phone numbers on the national registry, without being subject to potential financial penalties, unless the caller has prior express invitation or permission or has an established business relationship (e.g., calling in response to a consumer’s inquiry).  

The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) telemarketing regulations – the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”) – parallel the FCC regulations and apply to all business entities, including third parties acting as agents for or on behalf of companies.

Failure to comply with this policy and the TCPA may result in serious consequences. The TCPA permits private litigants to recover $500 per call made in violation of its requirements. In the case of willful and knowing violations, a court may award up to three times that amount. Failure of Company staff and personnel to comply with the TCPA may also result in employment-related consequences.

Enforcement

Changes to this policy require approval by the Company’s legal counsel.  Changes in operating procedures, standards, guidelines and technologies, provided they are consistent with this policy, may be authorized by the Company.

No part of this policy or its supporting operating procedures should be interpreted as contravening or superseding any other legal and regulatory requirements placed upon the Company.  Protective measures should not impede other legally mandated processes such as record retention or subpoenas.  

This policy is intended to outline the fundamental requirements of the TCPA and its implementing regulations regarding DNC requirements. Any questions concerning the application or interpretation of this policy and the TCPA or its implementing regulations for any planned consumer outreach should first be referred to the Company’s legal representatives. 

If you suspect or know of a violation of this policy, immediately contact the Company.  The Company prohibits retaliation against any staff or personnel who report a concern in good faith or participate in good faith in an investigation related to a report.

General Do-Not-Call Requirements

The TCPA provides consumers with options to avoid unwanted and unsolicited telephone solicitations and addresses, inter alia, including the national DNC registry and a required internal Company DNC list. The Company’s policy is to adhere to all these requirements:

National DNC

  1. Telephone solicitations can only be made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location). A “telephone solicitation” is the initiation of a call for the purpose of encouraging  the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services which is transmitted to any person, but does not include a call or message(a) to any person (i) with that person’s prior express invitation or permission or (ii) with whom the caller has an established business relationship or (b) by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization
  2. Absent the prior express invitation or permission or an established business relationship, no seller, or entity telemarketing on behalf of the seller, can initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential telephone or cell phone subscriber who has registered his or her telephone number on the national DNC registry.
  3. An “established business relationship” means a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between the Company and a telephone subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration, on the basis of the subscriber’s purchase or transaction with the subsidiary within the eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the date of the telephone call or on the basis of the subscriber’s inquiry or application regarding products or services offered by the subsidiary within the three months immediately preceding the date of the call, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party.
  4. Consumers are able to revoke consent through any reasonable means, this means that consumers cannot be limited to narrow channels when communicating their revocation of consent. There should be a procedure in place to capture and process reasonable requests via any channel they may come through (agent, email, text, mail, etc)
  5. The FCC has adopted a list of specific words that senders of text messages must process as a reasonable revocation of consent.  These words are:  stop, quit, end, revoke, opt-out, cancel or unsubscribe. However, a process should be in place to recognize any uncommon or non-standard opt-out phrasing, such as take me off, no, leave me alone, etc., which would constitute a reasonable revocation. 
  6.   A safe harbor exists for an inadvertent violation of this prohibition if the telemarketer can demonstrate that the violation was an error and that its routine practices include:
  1. Written procedures to comply with the national DNC rules;
  2. Training of personnel in procedures established pursuant to the national DNC procedures;
  3. Maintenance of a list of telephone numbers excluded from contact (an “internal DNC”);
  4. Use of a version of the national DNC registry obtained no more than 31 days  prior to the date any call is made (with records to document compliance); and
  5. Adoption of a process to ensure that it does not sell, rent, lease, purchase, or use the national DNC database in any manner except in compliance with regulations under the TCPA and any other Federal or state law to prevent contacting numbers on the national DNC.

Internal DNC

  1. For profit companies also must maintain company specific DNC lists reflecting the names and telephone numbers of residential telephone or cell phone subscribers who have requested to be excluded from telemarketing.  Such requests must be honored for five years after the date of the request. Additional requirements in connection with this internal DNC list include:
  1. training of personnel as to the existence and use of the list; 
  2. recording and honoring DNC requests not more than 10 business days from the date such request is received; 
  3. identification of the name of the individual caller and the person on whose behalf the call is made and the telephone number or address where the person must be contacted, which may not be a 900 number or a number for which the charges exceed local or long distance charges; 

d) upon specific request of the subscriber or the reasonable expectation of the consumer, application of the DNC request to affiliated entities of the business entity making the call. 

Do-Not-Call Compliance

It is the responsibility of the ____________ or contractual third-party entity to verify whether a subscriber’s telephone number was listed on the national DNC registry or the Company’s internal DNC list.  If the telephone subscriber is on the national DNC registry or internal DNC list, it is the responsibility of the ________ to ensure that there is express existence of an established business relationship between the subscriber or the safe harbor conditions are met in the event the Company determines to proceed with the telemarketing call.

If the Company decides to initiate telemarketing activities, its policy shall be, in addition to any contractual third-party entity engaged in making telemarketing calls on behalf of the Company, to employ a version of the national DNC registry or portions of the database for areas called that is obtained no more than three months prior to the call date (including records to support the three-month process).

Additionally, it is the policy of the Company that any telephone solicitation or telemarketing call are only placed at times allowed by the Federal or State calling hours.  The Federal hours are 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (local time for the called party’s location). However, states’ calling hours vary by state; check with your legal team for approved calling times. 

Removal Requests and Complaints

A consumer’s request not to receive calls or texts from the Company shall be promptly honored either electronically or manually by the ___________ or contractual third-party personnel by:

  1. Recording and maintaining the request, and
  2. Placing the called party’s name (if provided) and telephone number on the Company’s DNC list.
  3. Note that a removal request terminates any previously established business relationship.

If any Company employee receives a consumer request for no further contact, the employee is to send an email to [insert email] and specify the telephone number within either the subject or message body.  These email requests received during the work week are typically handled within five (5) business days and by the end of the business day on Monday when submitted over the weekend.

Staff Training

It is the policy of the Company that all employees receive annual training to ensure appropriate compliance with TCPA DNC regulations, including the existence, maintenance and use of the Company’s DNC  list.