Law / United States / 
Montana
Montana Telemarketing Registration and Fraud Prevention Act
Mont. Code Ann. §§ 30-14-1401 to 30-14-1414
In force.
A telephone contact rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Licensing, Disclosure, Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- Before telemarketing to a Montana consumer (a telephone campaign to induce a purchase that involves more than one call to the consumer), register annually with the Montana Department of Justice and post a $50,000 surety bond or an equal certificate of deposit, cash or government bond, unless exempt: among others, a business-to-business sale, a consumer with an existing business relationship with or previous purchase from the business, a noncommercial solicitation, or a licensed securities, insurance or real estate professional or supervised financial organization.
- When contacting a consumer, promptly and clearly disclose your identity, that the purpose of the call is to sell goods or services, the nature of the goods or services, and that no purchase or payment is necessary to win a prize or enter a prize promotion.
- Do not telemarket to a Montana residence before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time, call someone who has said they do not wish to receive solicitation calls from you, use threatening, intimidating, profane or obscene language, engage anyone in conduct a reasonable person would find annoying, abusive or harassing, or intentionally block caller identification (an accurate substitute name and a working number are allowed).
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Failing to register, keep required records, make the required call-opening disclosures, or observe the abusive-practice limits is an absolute-liability offense punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to 6 months in the county jail, or both, on a first conviction, and a fine of up to $50,000 or up to 5 years in the state prison, or both, on a second or later conviction; knowingly violating the Act to deprive an owner of property is a separate telemarketing-fraud offense punishable by up to 5 or 10 years depending on the value involved.
Statutory damages
A person who suffers loss or harm from an unfair, deceptive, or prohibited act or practice may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees, court costs, and any other remedy provided by law, and a person harmed by an abusive act or practice may also obtain injunctive or declaratory relief; this civil remedy does not itself provide for treble damages.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 500
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Montana Department of Justice or a county attorney, or a private civil action under Mont. Code Ann. § 30-14-1413.
What this law does
The Montana Telemarketing Registration and Fraud Prevention Act requires a seller or telemarketer to register annually with the Department of Justice, with a $50,000 surety bond or an equal certificate of deposit, cash or government bond, before telemarketing, a campaign by telephone to induce a purchase that involves more than one call to a consumer.
Registration does not apply to, among others, a business-to-business sale, a person soliciting consumers who have an existing business relationship with or have previously purchased from the business, a religious, charitable, political, educational or other noncommercial solicitation, or a licensed securities, insurance or real estate professional or supervised financial organization; the sale of goods or services by an unregistered seller or telemarketer that must register is void.
When contacting a consumer, the caller must promptly and clearly disclose its identity, that the purpose of the call is to sell goods or services, the nature of the goods or services, and that no purchase or payment is necessary to win a prize or enter a prize promotion.
It is an abusive practice to engage in telemarketing to a residence outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, to call someone who has said they do not wish to receive solicitation calls from that seller or telemarketer, to use threatening, intimidating, profane or obscene language or otherwise harass the called party, or to intentionally block caller identification, though substituting an accurate name and a working number is allowed.
A person harmed by an unfair, deceptive or prohibited practice may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and court costs, and may obtain injunctive or declaratory relief for an abusive practice; the same conduct is also an absolute-liability criminal offense, punishable by a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail on a first conviction and up to $50,000 or five years in prison on a later one.
The Act separately imposes pre-payment disclosure duties (total cost, material restrictions, prize odds) and a cancellation right on the underlying sale.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.