What is Phone Harassment?
In its most basic sense, phone harassment is the use of the telephone to annoy, threaten, intimidate, abuse or disturb another person. Telephones, of course, include traditional telephones, cell phones, and internet-based phones.
Initially, the law relating to telephone harassment was a crime called "maliciously diverting calls" in which a person would buy time on alternate lines and then hang up when a person attempted to call. The person’s intent was to put other people at a disadvantage and accomplish the "malicious" act of hanging up. Modern statutes tend to refer to "repeated" or "intentional calling" of another person, as well as intent to harass, annoy, or otherwise intimidate .
Here are some examples of what constitutes telephone harassment:
The penalties for telephone harassment range from a civil lawsuit to imprisonment. In Connecticut, telephone harassment is a Class C Misdemeanor when someone calls a telephone number to harass or annoy if they do the following:
There are a number of other statutes relating to telephones and harassment, such as the "calling another repeatedly" statute above and the harassment with intent statute. Additionally, a person could file a harassment complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
Federal Phone Harassment Laws
The U.S. Congress has two main laws restricting invasive telephone practices. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and the Telemarketing Sales Rule both prohibit tactics that companies and individuals have long used to solicit credit card applications, insurance, travel, and other goods and services.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act restricts telemarketing practices by companies that use prerecorded messages to contact residential customers or that attempt to contact cellular phone numbers or numbers on the national "Do Not Call List."
The law restricts the placement of calls to homes and cell phone from:
The Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices and also limits the hours during which companies can call: they may not place telephone calls to your home before the hour of 8 A.M., or after 9 P.M., your local time. There are a few other federal laws that may apply to phone harassment. For privacy and anti-scam organizations has compiled a list of federal and state agencies that are responsible for receiving and investigating consumer complaints.
Phone Harassment Laws in the States
Although statutes and case law pertaining to phone harassment are relatively rare, the District of Columbia is one who takes phone harassment very seriously. Specifically, D.C. Code § 22-1324, entitled "Telephone Harassment," makes it a crime to "make repeated and unwanted calls on a telephone line, or knowingly make repeated and unwanted calls on a telephone line, for the purpose of annoying, abusing, threatening or harassing another individual or his family." This provision was introduced as part of the Omnibus Crime Reduction Act passed in 1999, and is codified in the District of Columbia Code at D.C. Code § 22-1324. This statute also makes it a crime to "knowingly permit or encourage a telephone line to be used by others to do any of the acts enumerated." Id. The statute carries a fine not to exceed $300 and/or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days for a person found guilty.
Pursuant to its power granted by the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Federal Communications Commission has promulgated a regulation that states that any "telephone call [that] includes or introduces an unsolicited advertisement, is an advertisement" and can be regulated in accordance with the TCPA. 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(1).
Maryland law defines harassing or abusive telephone calls as any "[c]alling … with intent to harass, abuse, or annoy any person at the called number," or "[c]ausing a telephone receiver to ring repeatedly or engaging another person in telephone conversation repeatedly, with intent to harass, abuse, or annoy any person at the called number." MD. CODE ANN., COM. LAW § 13-301, 13-302 (LexisNexis 2010). The latter call is defined as "repeated calls within a 24-hour period." Id. at (f) and (g). Maryland law is considered a state-law counterpart to the federal TCPA. See Jodi F. Ralphe, Summary of Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 8 GEO. MASON L. REV. 379, 392 (1999). Under the related Maryland Communications Act, "non-commercial recorded messages" may not be "delivered to consumers," although they may be "delivered to recipients who have given their prior express consent." MD. CODE ANN., INIT. § 11-204(e)-(f).
Virginia generally prohibits and imposes provided that it does not impermissibly regulate speech. See, e.g., Nat’l Org. for Women v. Operation Rescue, 747 F. Supp. 779, 787 (E.D. Va. 1990); State v. O’Brien, 2008-CA-00889-MR, 2009 WL 301073 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 10, 2009).
Phone Harassment: How to Tell
It is sometimes difficult to gauge when to classify unwanted phone calls as telephone harassment. In most states, there is a relatively low standard for determining whether a call was in fact harassing. Many people have definitions in their minds about what "harassment" means. Some people think it is simply an unwanted phone call or text message. But in most states this isn’t actually the case.
The best way to determine whether a call you received is illegal is to evaluate the calls and/or messages in light of the factors considered by courts considering whether a call was harassing under the law. Courts will examine the content of the message or communication, the context of the message or communication, and how many times the calls or texts took place before deciding whether the call or text was harassing.
While it is important to consider all of these factors in evaluating the calls you received, it is much more important to gather the evidence of the telephone harassment. With text messages, this is pretty simple, as courts will give heavy weight to things like the exact time of day the text came in, the number of texts sent per day and over a short period of time. For voice messages, there is nothing better than saving the voicemails.
As for the context, if the call came while you were at work or while in a meeting, that is an important factor to show that the unwanted call was harassing.
In order to prove that the harassment was continuous, it is critical to keep records of the calls, texts and/or voicemails and/or have the ability to preserve the evidence. Indeed, in Virginia, if you don’t preserve the calls, texts or voicemail evidence, what you were previously receiving is inadmissible.
With respect to the call content, the law will now look at the content of the communications. For example, were calls or messages directed to names, addresses, places of employment or other personal information in the calls or texts?
Sometimes courts will even consider factors like whether you responded to any of the calls or messages or how you responded. In some states, whether you’ve asked the person to stop calling or messaging you is relevant.
The primary factor for the courts is whether you were annoyed, disturbed or harassed. This is something you simply have to consider yourself, based on your feelings after you get the calls, texts or messages. If you end up being sexually harassed at work and make that known to an HR person, for example, courts don’t have much sympathy for a person who was otherwise harassed outside of work by person at work who was also harassing them at work.
What to Do If You Are Being Harassed
If you are a victim of phone harassment, there are various steps you can take to rectify the situation. Perhaps the best way to handle this situation is to write a letter to the offending party that outlines your concerns. In this communication, you should specifically identify the offending conduct and request that the harassment stop. Once you have sent off the demand letter, your next step is to give the offending party 30 days to respond. If, after 30 days, you still have not received a response, then you should seek legal representation.
In some cases, judges will review recordings of phone conversations to determine whether or not harassment was present. If you have the ability to record a conversation, do so if you believe you are the victim of harassing phone calls. It is also a good idea to keep a journal of any harassing or troublesome phone calls so that you have a record of when each call occurred .
Many people are shocked to learn that recording conversations without consent is not illegal in most states. That’s because many states, including the state of Texas, adhere to a one-person consent rule. In other words, you don’t need the consent of other parties to record a conversation, and doing so is not an invasion of privacy.
You should contact law enforcement if the harasser regularly uses threatening behavior such as swearing, obscenity, or threats of physical violence. Depending on the severity of the abuse you have suffered, you may be able to file a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator. You may also be able to file a request for a protection order of some sort.
Another option for resisting phone harassment is to hire an attorney with experience in litigating Phone harassment cases. Many attorneys have put a great deal of time into studying laws related to chronic harassment over the phone, and may know strategies that clients have probably not considered.
Who to Report Phone Harassment To
When you have a complaint about harassing phone calls, you may need to involve the authorities, whether that be criminal or civil authorities, law enforcement agencies, or telephone companies. First, you need to determine what authority to contact, as not all types of harassment phone calls are the same. For example, if someone is calling you multiple times a day, then you need to determine who is harassing you. Is it a bill collector, a telemarketer, a rogue associate, your personal stalker, your spouse, or someone else? The answer to that question will determine what type of entity you should report the harassment to. If it is a nuisance call, then simply reporting the number to your phone company through your caller ID service may be all you need to do. Some phone companies will block the number themselves. Most phone companies can obtain the number of times you received the calls, the time of day, and the number of the party making the calls. If it is a prank call, you can report the number to your phone company, and they will usually take appropriate measures to block the phone number from reaching you. If it is harassment by a telemarketer, you can report the number to the appropriate agency. In the United States, it is the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, and the National Do Not Call Registry.
If it is harassment from a bill collector, you can submit a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You can also file a lawsuit against the bill collector if it is threatening, abusive, or profane in its communications with you. See Best Practices for Communicating with Collectors.
If it is harassment from an abuser, you can contact Crime Stoppers or your local police department. For example, if you are repeatedly contacted by the same person, you can ask the police to investigate the messages. It is helpful to keep a log of the incoming communications, such as with an app or a notebook. Like all evidence, these records should be kept for as long as needed, and should not be discarded or deleted.
If it is harassment by a foreign entity, you cannot rely on local or state authorities to assist you. However, complaints can be lodged with other government agencies. As an example, you may be able to seek assistance from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). For example, the FCC takes complaints for unsolicited texts and other texts that may be considered harassment.
Punishment for Phone Harassment
The legal ramifications of phone harassment are serious. Those found guilty of violating the law can face criminal charges and, depending on state or municipal laws, may face both fines and imprisonment.
While some municipalities have local ordinances governing phone harassment, many do not. For those that don’t, the state’s penal code, which would apply anywhere within that particular state, will most likely govern the offense.
Practices such as repeatedly calling or texting someone against their wishes or continually harassing someone on the phone may incur a fair number of penalties including:
Though penalties vary, if the behavior is repeated over a short period—say, calling someone multiple times within the same day to say some nasty things—it may be a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 fine, up to 120 days in jail, or both.
If the behavior occurred over an extended period of time—calling the victim almost daily for a month to do the same thing—it may be classified as a Class 4 felony. The potential penalty is a fine of up to $100,000 and between one and three years of incarceration. Medical expenses, emotional distress, loss of employment and other damages may be sought through civil court.
Regardless of the state, violating the law on telephone harassment is a crime that can result in significant penalties. So if you ever feel like someone is intruding in your private life through telephone harassment, you have options.
Technological Aids and Phone Harassment
While technological advancement and convenience has also contributed to phone harassment through its ease and accessibility, it has also provided new tools through which it can be combatted. There are a number of available apps and services through which unwanted calls can be blocked, excessive or nuisance callers can be reported or assigned a custom ring tone, busy signal or redirect to voicemail, and/or telemarketing and spam calls can be filtered out. A few popular options include Call Protector, Truecaller, Hiya, RoboKiller, and NoMoRobo. Most of these apps are free or offered with a free trial , so users might find it useful to experiment with a few to determine which best fits their needs. For example, Call Protector allows users to report a caller as a ‘telemarketer,’ ‘annoyance’ or ‘scammer,’ while RoboKiller recognizes and blocks spam numbers and uses ‘robocalls’ to remove unwanted calls. There are also a number of paid services that provide similar functionalities. Many phone companies have also developed tools that prevent users from receiving unwanted calls, or at least allow them greater control over incoming calls. Most major mobile providers offer services such as Verizon’s Call Filter, Sprint’s Call Blocking, and T-Mobile’s Scam Identify & Scam Block.