Florida law takes effect to protect you from robocalls

Relief from robocalls is here. A Florida law is now in effect that helps to protect your number from the hundreds of nuisance calls being made every day, though they won’t stop completely.

This Fourth of July, pride, patriotism and freedom united us. This fifth of July, it may be robocalls that unite us.

Tony Musachio gets those annoying robocalls. “How many robocalls or spam calls do you to tend to get? probably two or three a day,” Musachio said.

Steve Legler gets them as well. “Like six a day. You know, sometimes it’s one right after the other in the afternoons. Like about noon or so. Maybe you’ll have three in a row,” Legler said.

Jeremy receives those unwanted calls. “I get personally about two to three a day,” said Jeremy.

Florida’s lawmakers united against robocalls too. A new law enacts more strict rules on who can call, text or leave you voicemails.

They’ve become frustrating. “It’s like, just on a scale of 10? Maybe like a seven?” Legler said.

The law focuses on telemarketers who use automatic systems to dial you here in Florida. Now, there can be no calls without your written consent first.

Callers have a curfew from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It also outlaws some calls with only three being allowed in 24 hours on the same subject.

This bans spoofing caller ID and adds second-degree misdemeanor penalties.

“They still keep coming. And they change the number and they get a local number. And then I pick it up as if it’s a local number thinking that it’s one of my business customers, which it is not,” Musachio said.

If you find out that a company is not following the rules, you can take action against them. Report the company to the Florida Division of Consumer Services.

Another thing you can do is to add your number to the do not call registry. And, if you’re willing to keep track, you may be able to get some cash for yourself.