Virginia Code 59.1-514.1: Joint liability of seller and telephone solicitor for prohibited acts; rebuttable presumption
A. A seller on whose behalf or for whose benefit a telephone solicitor makes or initiates a telephone solicitation call in violation of any provision of § 59.1-511, 59.1-512, 59.1-513, or 59.1-514 and the telephone solicitor making or initiating the telephone call shall be jointly and severally liable for such violation.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 59.1-514.1
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Seller: means any person on whose behalf or for whose benefit a telephone solicitation call offering or advertising the person's property, goods, or services is made or initiated. See Virginia Code 59.1-510
- Telephone solicitation call: means (i) any telephone call made or initiated to any natural person's residence in the Commonwealth, to any landline or wireless telephone with a Virginia area code, or to a landline or wireless telephone registered to any natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth or (ii) any text message sent to any wireless telephone with a Virginia area code or to a wireless telephone registered to any natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of offering or advertising any property, goods, or services for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit or for the purpose of fraudulent activity, including engaging in any conduct that results in the display of false or misleading caller identification information on the called person's telephone. See Virginia Code 59.1-510
- Telephone solicitor: means any person who makes or initiates, or causes another person to make or initiate, a telephone solicitation call on its own behalf or for its own benefit or on behalf of or for the benefit of a seller. See Virginia Code 59.1-510
B. A telephone solicitation call offering or advertising a seller’s property, goods, or services shall be presumed to have been made or initiated on behalf of or for the benefit of the seller, whether or not any agency relationship exists between the telephone solicitor and the seller, whether or not the seller supervised or directed the conduct of the telephone solicitor, and whether or not the telephone solicitor is shown to have acted at the seller’s direction and request when making or initiating the telephone solicitation call. The presumption may be rebutted if it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the seller did not retain or request the telephone solicitor to make telephone solicitation calls on the seller’s behalf or for the seller’s benefit and that the telephone solicitation calls offering or advertising the seller’s property, goods, or services were made by the telephone solicitor without the seller’s knowledge or consent.