GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
S	1
SENATE BILL 1003
     

 
Short Title:	The Solicitation-Free Dinner Act.	()	
Sponsors:	Senators Gulley;  Ballance, Cunningham, Dannelly, Lucas, Martin of Guilford, and Wellons.	
Referred to:	Commerce.	
April 5, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO RESTRICT TELEPHONE SOLICITATION TO THE HOURS BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. and to increase the penalty for violation of the telephone solicitation statutes.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 75‑30.1(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	No telephone solicitor shall initiate a call to a residential telephone subscriber after 6:00 P.M. or before 8:00 A.M. at the called party's location."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 75‑30.1(h) and G.S. 75‑30.1(i) read as rewritten:
"(h)	The Attorney General may investigate any complaints received alleging violations of subsections (b) through (g) of this section. If, after investigating a complaint, the Attorney General finds that there has been a violation of subsections (b) through (g) of this section, the Attorney General may bring an action to impose a civil penalty and to seek any other appropriate relief, including equitable relief to restrain the violation pursuant to G.S. 75‑14. Actions for civil penalties under this section shall be consistent with the provisions of G.S. 75‑15.2, except that the penalty imposed for a telephone solicitor's first violation of this section shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), the penalty imposed for that telephone solicitor's second violation of this section shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), the penalty imposed for that telephone solicitor's third violation of this section shall not exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000), and the penalty imposed for that telephone solicitor's fourth violation of this section shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(i)	A person who has received  a telephone solicitation within any 12‑month period in violation of subsections (b) through (g) of this section may bring either or both of the following actions in the General Court of Justice against the violating telephone solicitor:
(1)	An action to enjoin further violations.
(2)	An action to recover no more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for the first violation of this section, no more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second violation of this section, no more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) for the third violation of this section, and no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for violation of this section.
In an action brought pursuant to this section, a prevailing plaintiff shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees, and the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees to a prevailing defendant if the court finds that the plaintiff knew, or should have known, that the action was frivolous and malicious."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2001.