unwanted telephone solicitations

When you list your home for sale with a REALTOR®, we anticipate and are hopeful that it will sell during the term identified on your listing agreement.  During this time you should not receive calls from other REALTORS® offering to list your property.  In the unlikely event that you do, you are encouraged to notify your listing agent/broker right away.  However, if the property does not sell and your listing contract expires, GRAR does not have the legal authority to prevent real estate professionals from calling you to offer their services.

do not call registry

If you do not wish to receive telephone solicitations of this nature at a residential number, you are encouraged to register your telephone number(s) with the National Do Not Call Registry.  There is no cost for this service.

register online

register by phone

(p) 888-382-1222

Verify Registration

Note:  Telemarketers are required to check the registry at least every thirty one (31) days.  If you aren’t already registered, you may want to do so at the time of listing or at least 32 days prior to the end date of your listing agreement.  The Do Not Call laws apply only to calls to residential numbers (not business lines). 

registered & receiving unwanted calls

If you are registered and still receive unwanted calls, the following options are available to you:

  • File a complaint with the MI Attorney General

  • Report the calls(s) by email to the Federal Communications Commission

  • Notify the caller’s supervising broker.  If the caller is a member of GRAR, you may obtain the name of the supervising broker and his/her phone number and/or email address here.

  • Legal options:  An attorney may potentially assist you in receiving $500 for each unwanted call, as well as recovery of reasonable attorney’s fees.  The caller(s) could also be fined up to $11,000 per call by the Federal Government.

hours

The Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act permits telemarketing calls between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.   However, the Michigan Penal Code makes it a misdemeanor for any telemarketer to make unsolicited commercial telephone calls between the hours of 9:00 p.m. – 9:00 a.m.

 

Code of conduct

Michigan has established a code of conduct for telemarketers that prohibits:  interference with or the blocking of caller ID; calls that consist in whole or in part of a recorded message; and calls to a residential telephone subscriber who is on the DNC list.

existing relationships

The Do Not Call laws permit a REALTOR® to call past clients for up to 18 months after the conclusion of their listing or buyer agency agreement, until or unless they are asked not to call again. If a prospective client reaches out to a REALTOR® to inquire about his/her services, the REALTOR® may then call for up to 3 months, until or unless they are asked not to call again.