I Sued a Spammer

I sued a spammer!

Did you know you have a right to sue folks that send you unsolicited text messages or calls?

I received a check for $1,200 today as settlement of a TCPA suit against a party that sent me an unsolicited text message.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Identify the other party. If you can find the corporation that did it or that benefited (e.g. if they include a website link), you then can look up their agent for service of process on the Secretary of State website.

2. Issue a notice of demand explaining that you are seeking payment for TCPA violation and give them 10 days to respond. Send mail with signature delivery. (You can’t sue without having issued a notice of demand.) $500 damages, treble if you’re on the Do Not Call registry.

3. File a small claims lawsuit in the county in which you were injured (San Mateo in my case) including the salient TCPA bits. This is about $35 and can be done online.

4. Use a process server to serve the defendant and obtain proof of service. This is about $95.

5. At this point you probably will get their attention since if they ignore you now and you show up to court you will almost certainly win a default judgement against them and the courts will seize from them what you are owed.

6. Negotiate a settlement. In my case I was ok eating the legal costs and settled for $1,200 vs the full statutory $1,500.

7. Cash the check and dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice. (You’re agreeing to not sue them again for the exact same text message event.)

Note: I am not a lawyer!