(a) It is unlawful for any person to use, to employ or direct another person to use, or to contract for the use of ADAD equipment for the purpose of advertising or offering for sale, lease, rental or as a gift any goods, services or property, either real or personal, primarily for personal, family or household use or for the purpose of conducting polls or soliciting information where:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-18-1502

  • ADAD equipment: means any device or system of devices which is used, whether alone or in conjunction with other equipment, for the purpose of automatically selecting or dialing telephone numbers and disseminating recorded messages to the numbers so selected or dialed. See Tennessee Code 47-18-1501
  • Commission: means the Tennessee public utility commission, created by §. See Tennessee Code 47-18-1501
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Person: means a natural person, consumer, individual, governmental agency, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association, and any other legal or commercial entity however organized. See Tennessee Code 47-18-2102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Consent is not received prior to the initiation of the calls as specified in subsection (b);
(2) Such use is other than between the hours of eight o’clock a.m. (8:00 a.m.) and nine o’clock p.m. (9:00 p.m.);
(3) The ADAD equipment will operate unattended, or is not so designed and equipped with an automatic clock and calendar device that it will not operate unattended, even in the event of power failures;
(4) Such use involves either the random or sequential dialing of telephone numbers;
(5) The telephone number required to be stated in subdivision (a)(7) is not, during normal business hours, promptly and personally answered by someone who:

(A) Is an agent of the person or organization in whose behalf the automatic calls are made; and
(B) Is willing and able to provide information concerning the automatic calls;
(6) The automatic dialing and recorded message player does not automatically and immediately terminate its connection with any telephone call within ten (10) seconds after the person called:

(A) Fails to give consent for the playing of a recorded message; or
(B) Replaces the receiver on the person’s telephone;
(7) The recorded message fails to state clearly the name and telephone number of the person or organization initiating the call within the first twenty-five (25) seconds of the call and at the conclusion of the call; or
(8) Such use involves calls to:

(A) Telephone numbers which, at the request of the customer, have been omitted from the telephone directory published by the telephone company or cooperative serving the customer; or
(B) Hospitals, nursing homes, fire protection agencies, or law enforcement agencies.
(b)

(1) A person may give consent to a call made with ADAD equipment when a live operator introduces the call and states an intent to play a recorded message. Any such consent shall apply only to a particular call and shall not constitute prior consent to receive further calls through the use of such ADAD equipment.
(2)

(A) Any person wishing to receive telephone calls through the use of ADAD equipment shall give written consent to the person using, employing, directing another person to use, or contracting for the use of such ADAD equipment.
(B) Any form used for such written consent by any person using, employing, directing another person to use, or contracting for the use of such ADAD equipment shall clearly and conspicuously state its purpose and effect, and clearly and conspicuously give notice of how such consent may be withdrawn.
(C) A record of such written consent shall be maintained by the person to whom consent is given, and shall be made available to the commission or its authorized representative, without further action, during normal business hours and following reasonable notice.
(D) Such consent shall, unless withdrawn, be valid for a period of two (2) years from the date on which it is executed; and such record of written consent shall be maintained by the person to whom consent is given for at least the same period of time.
(E) Any consent to receive telephone calls through the use of ADAD equipment shall be void and withdrawn on the fifteenth day following the receipt of a letter withdrawing such consent. It is unlawful for any person to whom written consent is given to fail to maintain the record of such written consent for the time required by this subdivision (b)(2)(E), or to prevent or hinder the commission or its authorized representative from inspecting any such record of written consent.