FSBOs on the "Do Not Call" list |
Can I legally call someone who is selling their house "for sale by owner" if they are on the federal "Do Not Call" list? No. An agent can call a FSBO under limited circumstances based on a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC ruled that realtors can call FSBOs who have a sign in their front yard with a telephone number on it, ONLY if they have a client who is interested in purchasing the seller’s property.
The FCC’s
ruling states: “[as] with any entity making
calls that constitute “telephone
solicitations,” a real estate agent,
insurance agent, or newspaper is precluded
from calling consumers registered on the
national do-not-call list, unless the calls
would fall within one of the specific
exemptions provided in the statute and
rules. Therefore, we clarify that a
telephone solicitation would include calls
by real estate agents to property owners for
the purpose of offering their services to
the owner, whether the property listing has
lapsed or not. We find, however, that calls
by real estate agents who represent only the
potential buyer to someone who has
advertised their property for sale, do not
constitute telephone solicitations, so long
as the purpose of the call is to discuss the
potential sale of the property to the
represented buyer. The callers, in such
circumstances, are not encouraging the
called party to purchase, rent or invest in
property, as contemplated by the definition
of ‘telephone solicitation.’ They are
instead calling in response to an offer to
purchase something from the called party.” |
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