Contractor fined $340k for illegal calls

USA: An Arizona-based HVAC contractor is to pay $340,000 in civil fines for making 25,000 illegal telemarketing calls between 2011 and 2015.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Desert Valley Aire, an HVAC installation and maintenance company in Phoenix, Prescott, and Southern Arizona.

According to the settlement, Desert Valley Aire admitted to repeatedly calling Arizonans on the  Federal Do Not Call Registry, even continuing to call consumers who told the company to stop calling. Some consumers alleged that when they confronted Desert Valley Aire about the unwanted calls, the business claimed to be exempt from the Do Not Call Registry or hung up.

The Do Not Call Registry is a national database established in 2003 to comply with the US Do-Not-Call Implementation Act. It lists the telephone numbers of individuals and families who have requested that telemarketers not contact them. Certain callers are required by federal law to respect this request.

As well as paying pay $340,000 in civil fines, the company is also banned from making telemarketing calls for 5 years.