TCPA Demand Letter - Tennessee

TENNESSEE TCPA DEMAND LETTER

Quick-Reference Summary

Sender Letterhead

[SENDER NAME OR LAW FIRM]
[Street Address]
[City, Tennessee ZIP]
Telephone: [(___) ___-____]
Email: [______________________]
[TN BPR No. / File No., if applicable]

Date and Recipient

Date: [__/__/____]

Via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, No. [____________]
And Via Email to: [____________]

[RECIPIENT NAME / REGISTERED AGENT]
[BUSINESS NAME]
[Street Address]
[City, State ZIP]

Subject Line / Re: Block

RE: DEMAND TO CEASE UNLAWFUL TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS AND TO SETTLE CLAIMS — Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227; Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1501 et seq. and § 47-18-1526; Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-401 (Do Not Call/Text); Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-101 et seq.
Claimant: [CLAIMANT FULL NAME]
Claimant Telephone Number(s) Called: [____________]
Date Range of Violations: [__/__/____] through [__/__/____]
Number of Offending Calls/Texts/Faxes: [____]

I. Parties

Claimant: [CLAIMANT FULL NAME], a Tennessee resident residing at [ADDRESS], County of [____________], State of Tennessee, who is the subscriber and/or customary user of the telephone number(s) [____________]. Claimant ☐ registered the number(s) on the National Do-Not-Call Registry and/or the Tennessee Do Not Call/Text Register on [__/__/____] / ☐ previously requested no further calls from Respondent on [__/__/____] / ☐ revoked any prior consent on [__/__/____].

Respondent: [BUSINESS NAME], a [STATE OF INCORPORATION] [entity type], whose principal place of business is at [ADDRESS] and whose registered agent is [AGENT NAME] at [AGENT ADDRESS]. Respondent ☐ placed the calls/texts directly / ☐ caused them to be placed by an agent, lead generator, or third-party dialer acting on its behalf, for which Respondent is vicariously liable. Respondent is a "telephone solicitor" within the meaning of Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526(a)(3).

II. The Offending Communications (Call Log)

Respondent and/or its agents placed the following calls, text messages, and/or facsimile transmissions to Claimant's telephone number(s) without prior express consent (or after consent was revoked / after a do-not-call request / while the number was on a Do-Not-Call register):

Total documented violations: [____]

III. Legal Framework — Overlapping Federal and Tennessee Liability

A. Federal TCPA — 47 U.S.C. § 227

The federal TCPA is the primary vehicle for individual statutory-damages claims arising from unlawful calls, texts, and faxes:

• ATDS / artificial- or prerecorded-voice calls to cell phones — § 227(b)(1)(A): subject to the statute and rule's stated exceptions, prohibits calls using an ATDS or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cellular telephone number without prior express consent. For advertising or telemarketing calls covered by 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2), prior express written consent generally is required, subject to the rule's stated nonprofit and health-care exceptions. Under Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 141 S. Ct. 1163 (2021), equipment is an ATDS only if it has the capacity either to store a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator or to produce a telephone number using such a generator.
• Artificial or prerecorded calls to residential lines — § 227(b)(1)(B): the statute prohibits these calls without prior express consent unless the call is for an emergency purpose, concerns specified federal debt, or falls within an FCC exemption. Current 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(3) contains consent rules, numerical limits, and opt-out conditions that must be applied to the call type.
• National Do-Not-Call Registry — § 227(c) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c): restricts telephone solicitations to numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry; a caller invoking the safe-harbor standards must use a Registry version obtained no more than 31 days before the call (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2)). A consumer private action under § 227(c)(5) requires more than one call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity.
• Internal do-not-call / company-specific request — 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)(3): requires the caller to record the request when made and honor it within a reasonable time not exceeding ten business days.
• Unsolicited fax advertisements — § 227(b)(1)(C): generally prohibits sending unsolicited advertisements to a telephone facsimile machine unless the statutory established-business-relationship, number-acquisition, and notice conditions are satisfied; a compliant opt-out request ends the exception.

Damages: Section 227(b)(3) permits actual loss or $500 per violation, with a discretionary increase to no more than three times that amount for a willful or knowing violation. Section 227(c)(5) separately requires more than one call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity and permits actual loss or up to $500 per qualifying violation, with the same discretionary trebling ceiling. Match each call, text, or fax to the specific claim before calculating damages.
Statute of limitations: generally 4 years after accrual — 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a).
Private right of action: expressly provided — § 227(b)(3), (c)(5).

B. Tennessee Telemarketing / Do-Not-Call Statutes

• Consumer Telemarketing Protection Act of 1990 — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1501 et seq.: § 47-18-1501 defines "ADAD equipment" (automated dialing / recorded-message devices) and "Commission" (the Tennessee Public Utility Commission).
• Telephone solicitations prohibited — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526: prohibits a telephone solicitor from making an "unsolicited telephonic sales call" to any residential, mobile, or paging-device number unless the solicitor has instituted internal do-not-call procedures in compliance with 47 C.F.R. pt. 64 or 16 C.F.R. pt. 310 (§ 47-18-1526(b)); and prohibits making telephonic sales calls with caller-ID blocked or from an unlisted number (§ 47-18-1526(c)). The AG investigates violations, and the civil penalty "shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation" (§ 47-18-1526(d)).
• Do Not Call/Text Register — Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-401: establishes the Tennessee Public Utility Commission Do Not Call/Text Register; violations of the Register and related laws carry fines of up to $2,000 per violation under § 65-4-405. Telemarketers must scrub against both the Tennessee Register and the National Do-Not-Call Registry.

C. Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-101 et seq. [TN UDAP — FLAGGED]

Where the unlawful calling is paired with deceptive conduct, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act ("Tennessee Consumer Protection Act") provides a private action under Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-109(a)(1) to a person who suffers an "ascertainable loss" as a result of an unfair or deceptive act.

IMPORTANT — TN UDAP SCOPE AND TREBLE LIMITATION: Following the 2011 Tennessee Tort Reform Act, a private Tennessee Consumer Protection Act suit is limited to the unfair or deceptive practices specifically enumerated in Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-104(b) — the residual "catch-all" is reserved to the Attorney General. Treble damages under § 47-18-109(a)(3) are DISCRETIONARY (awarded only upon a finding that the violation was "willful or knowing"), not automatic. After finding a violation, the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs under § 47-18-109(e)(1); the award is not automatic. The Tennessee Consumer Protection Act SOL is one (1) year from discovery, with a five-year outer bound from occurrence (§ 47-18-110). Federal § 227(b)(3) separately permits the greater of actual loss or $500 per violation, with any willful-or-knowing increase discretionary and capped at three times that amount. Plead the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act only where you can tie the conduct to a § 47-18-104(b) enumerated practice (e.g., deceptive misrepresentation of the seller, offer, or purpose of the call).

IV. Statement of Violations

Based on the call log in Section II, Respondent committed at least the following violations as to Claimant:

☐ Calls/texts to a cellular number using an ATDS without prior express consent — 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)
☐ Calls/texts to a cellular number using an artificial or prerecorded voice without consent — 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)
☐ Prerecorded calls to a residential line without consent — 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(B)
☐ Telemarketing without prior express written consent — 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2)
☐ More than one call within 12 months by/on behalf of the same entity to a number on the National Do-Not-Call Registry — 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)
☐ Calls continued more than 10 business days after an internal do-not-call request — 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)(3)
☐ Unsolicited fax advertisement(s) — 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C)
☐ Unsolicited telephonic sales call without internal do-not-call procedures — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526(b)
☐ Caller-ID blocked / unlisted-number telephonic sales call — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526(c)
☐ Call to a number on the Tennessee Do Not Call/Text Register — Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-401
☐ Enumerated unfair or deceptive act or practice — Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-104(b)(___) (specify; required for a private Tennessee Consumer Protection Act action)
☐ Other — [_________________________________]

V. Damages and Remedies Calculation

VI. Demand

Pursuant to the authorities above, Claimant demands that Respondent, within [____] days (no later than [__/__/____]):

1. Immediately cease and desist all telephone calls, text messages, and facsimile transmissions to Claimant's number(s) and direct all further communications to the undersigned;
2. Place Claimant's number(s) on Respondent's internal do-not-call list and confirm the same in writing;
3. Preserve all evidence identified in Section VII below;
4. Tender settlement of Claimant's claims in the amount of $[__________] in full and final resolution; and
5. Identify every entity, lead generator, dialer vendor, and client on whose behalf the calls/texts were placed.

If Respondent contends it had Claimant's prior express (written) consent or a prior/existing business relationship under Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526(a)(5), Respondent must produce a copy of that consent or proof of the relationship, including the date, method, and any signed writing, within the response period.

VII. Litigation Hold / Evidence Preservation Notice

Respondent is on formal notice of its duty to preserve all documents, electronically stored information (ESI), and tangible evidence relevant to the claims, and must immediately suspend any routine destruction or overwriting as applied to:

☐ Outbound and inbound call detail records (CDRs) and dialer logs for Claimant's number(s)
☐ Records identifying the dialing equipment used and its capacity (ATDS / ADAD analysis)
☐ Prerecorded/artificial-voice audio files and text/SMS content and templates
☐ Consent records, lead-source data, opt-in records, and any signed consent writings
☐ National and Tennessee Do-Not-Call/Text scrubbing records and policies (31-day scrub logs)
☐ Internal do-not-call lists and records of honoring opt-out requests
☐ Caller-ID configuration and any spoofing/blocking records (Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526(c))
☐ TN telemarketer registration and compliance records
☐ Contracts, agency agreements, and indemnity terms with dialer vendors and lead generators
☐ Backup tapes, cloud-backed copies, audit logs, version histories, and metadata for the foregoing

Spoliation may result in sanctions and adverse-inference instructions. See Tatham v. Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., 473 S.W.3d 734 (Tenn. 2015).

VIII. Response Deadline and Method

Respondent's written response must be received no later than [__/__/____].

Silence, a boilerplate denial, or continued calling will be treated as a refusal to resolve this matter and will result in the filing of a civil action under the TCPA (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5)) and Tennessee law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1501 et seq., § 47-18-1526; § 65-4-401; and, where tied to an enumerated practice, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, § 47-18-101 et seq.), and may include a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission, and the Tennessee Attorney General / Division of Consumer Affairs.

This letter is sent without prejudice to all of Claimant's rights and remedies, which are expressly reserved.

Signature Block

Respectfully submitted,

[________________________________]
[ATTORNEY NAME] (or Claimant pro se)
Tennessee BPR No. [__________] (if attorney)
[Firm Name]
[Street Address]
[City, TN ZIP]
Telephone: [(___) ___-____]
Email: [____________]
Counsel for Claimant [CLAIMANT NAME] (if represented)

cc: ☐ Claimant
☐ File

Pre-Send Checklist

☐ Verified Respondent's legal name and registered agent via TN Secretary of State (https://tnbear.tn.gov/Ecommerce/FilingSearch.aspx)
☐ Confirmed each call/text/fax is documented with date, time, and calling number in the Section II log
☐ Confirmed whether Claimant's number was on the National and/or Tennessee Do Not Call/Text Register and the registration date
☐ Confirmed the federal claim is within the 4-year SOL (28 U.S.C. § 1658)
☐ CRITICAL: If pleading the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, identified at least one enumerated § 47-18-104(b) practice (do NOT rely on the residual catch-all reserved to the AG) and confirmed the 1-year / 5-year SOL (§ 47-18-110)
☐ Confirmed treble under § 47-18-109(a)(3) is discretionary (willful/knowing) — damages for the calls come from the TCPA
☐ Preserved Claimant-side evidence (screenshots, voicemails, carrier records)
☐ Removed all `` comments
☐ Sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, and retained delivery confirmation
☐ Reviewed by Tennessee-licensed counsel before transmission

Sources and References

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227
• FCC TCPA implementing rules, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
• 28 U.S.C. § 1658 (4-year SOL): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1658
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1501 (Consumer Telemarketing Protection Act — short title/definitions): https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-18/part-15/section-47-18-1501/
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-1526 (telephone solicitations prohibited): https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-18/part-15/section-47-18-1526/
• Tennessee Do Not Call/Text Program (Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-401): https://www.tn.gov/tpuc/tennessee-do-not-call-program.html
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-104 (enumerated unfair or deceptive acts): https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-18/part-1/section-47-18-104/
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-109 (private right of action; discretionary treble; fees): https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-18/part-1/section-47-18-109/
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-110 (statute of limitations): https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-18/part-1/section-47-18-110/
• Tennessee Attorney General — Consumer Protection: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/working-for-tennessee/consumer.html
• Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 141 S. Ct. 1163 (2021) (ATDS definition)
• Tucker v. Sierra Builders, 180 S.W.3d 109 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005) (causation under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act)