Delaware telemarketing rules

Registration with the Department of Justice

Unless exempt, no person may do business through telemarketing with a customer located in Delaware, as a seller or a telemarketing business, without first getting a certificate of registration from the Director of the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice. The application is sworn and notarized and includes representative scripts, and every registrant files a surety bond or, at the Director's discretion, a letter of credit. Exemptions cover certain publicly traded corporations and their subsidiaries, certain nonprofits, sellers under the Public Service Commission, licensed real estate professionals, and other listed sellers.

Business calls and other exempt practices

The chapter does not apply to solicitations or telephone use in connection with a sale of goods or services by a business supplier to a business or between businesses. It also does not apply to solicitations in which the sale is not completed, and payment or authorization for payment is not required, until after a face to face sales presentation to the customer.

Opening disclosures and the cancellation notice

At the beginning of the call and before any sales pitch, the telemarketer must say that the purpose of the call is to sell specific merchandise, give its own name and the seller's name, and accurately describe what is offered. Before the initial sales call ends and before payment is requested, it must disclose the total cost, any restrictions or conditions, and the material terms of any refund or cancellation policy. A sale becomes final only seven business days after the customer receives a written cancellation notice. Sales that allow at least seven days to review and return goods or cancel services, with refunds processed within 30 days and the policy disclosed, are exempt from that notice.

Stop calling requests and the national registry

Delaware's telemarketing chapter makes it a prohibited practice to willfully call or contact a customer by telephone for any purpose related to selling or advertising merchandise for 10 years after the customer, or someone acting with the customer's authorization, directed the caller orally or in writing to stop. A call is willful if the caller knows or should know of the customer's instruction. The Department of Justice tells consumers who want to stop telemarketing calls to consult the National Do Not Call Registry.

Calling hours

The Department of Justice's telemarketing page tells consumers that under federal and Delaware laws, telemarketing calls are restricted to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., and that telemarketers must promptly identify themselves and say why they are calling. The federal rule says no person or entity may initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential telephone subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location.

Recording calls

Delaware has two statutes on intercepting communications. The wiretap chapter makes it lawful for a person to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication when the person is a party to it or one of the parties has given prior consent, unless the purpose is a criminal or tortious act. The violation of privacy statute in the criminal code makes it an offense, except as authorized by law, to intercept without the consent of all parties a message by telephone or other private means of communication, including private conversation.