Eshoo Introduces Bill to Protect Consumers from Unwanted Robocalls and Texts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, has introduced legislation to protect anyone with a federal loan (student loans, mortgages, veterans loans, farming loans) from unwanted robocalls and texts, specifically to their mobile phones.

The Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone calls (HANGUP) Act rescinds a recently enacted provision in the Budget Act of 2015 exempting debt collectors from longstanding law that has prohibited them from robocalling without consent the mobile phones of those who have a debt owed or guaranteed by the federal government. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has provided statutory protection to consumers until now.

“We’ve all experienced the highly annoying dinner hour robocall with a prerecorded message,” Eshoo said. “Phone harassment was stopped by the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, but the provision in the Budget Act of 2015 has rolled back important consumer protections in TCPA. The exemption allows private debt collectors to conduct robocalls and send texts to mobile phones for debt owed or guaranteed by the federal government. The HANGUP Act restores critical protections for consumers by establishing a statutory roadblock to unwanted robocalls and texts.”