Law / United States / 
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Telemarketing Sales Calls Act
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- Do not make a telemarketing sales call, one made to induce payment or an extension of credit for goods or services or to gather information for such a solicitation, to a New Hampshire customer who has registered with the national do-not-call registry, and obtain the registry's quarterly listings.
- If the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule binds you, or would bind you if your calls were interstate, comply with it for telemarketing sales calls made within New Hampshire as well.
- These duties reach a campaign of more than 5 telemarketing calls a month to customers in the state, and not a call made at the customer's express request, in connection with an established business relationship, on behalf of a nonprofit charity, or on behalf of a political campaign unless a vendor places the political call using automatic dialing equipment.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
A civil penalty the Department of Justice imposes for each violation it finds after investigating a complaint; distinct from the private action's own damages.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 5,000
Statutory damages
Recovery is actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, trebled (at least doubled) on a finding that the violation was willful or knowing, plus the costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees; any attempted waiver of this right is void.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 1,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Department of Justice, on complaint, imposing a civil penalty; a private action under RSA 359-E:11, II.
What this law does
RSA 359-E:8 prohibits a telemarketer from making a telemarketing sales call to a customer, a natural person resident in New Hampshire, who has registered with the do-not-call registry the Federal Trade Commission maintains, and RSA 359-E:9 requires a telemarketer calling customers in the state to obtain the registry's quarterly listings from the Commission.
A person required to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule must also comply with it for telemarketing sales calls made within New Hampshire, as must a person who would be required to comply if the calls were interstate.
Telemarketing is a plan, program or campaign to induce payment for goods or services by telephone that involves more than 5 calls a month by a telemarketer to customers in the state, and a telemarketer is a person who makes such calls for financial profit or commercial purposes or controls or supervises one who does.
A telemarketing sales call is a call made to induce payment or an extension of credit for goods or services, or to obtain information for a direct solicitation of one, but not a call made at the customer's own express written or verbal request, in connection with an established business relationship as the Telemarketing Sales Rule defines it, on behalf of a nonprofit charity, or on behalf of a political campaign unless a vendor places it with automatic dialing equipment.
The Department of Justice must impose a civil penalty of $5,000 for each violation it finds after investigating a complaint, and a person injured by a violation may separately recover actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, trebled (at least doubled) for a willful or knowing violation, plus the costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees.
A telemarketer is not liable if it proves, by clear and convincing evidence, that as a routine business practice it maintains written procedures, trains its personnel, screens against the current quarterly registry and keeps records of doing so, monitors compliance, uses a list no more than three months old, and that the call was a good-faith error outside any pattern of violations.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.