Is my business liable if a vendor made the calls?
Usually, yes. The FCC’s 2013 ruling in the Dish Network matter, applied by the courts since, holds that a seller can be liable for calls made on its behalf under ordinary agency principles. The vendor contract is about recovery, not defence.
Usually, yes. The TCPA imposes liability on whoever makes or initiates a call, and in 2013 the FCC, asked by the courts in the Dish Network litigation, ruled that a seller does not have to dial the phone itself to be liable. It is liable for calls made by third parties on its behalf under federal common law agency principles. Courts have applied that ruling since. Three routes get there: actual authority (you engaged the vendor to make the calls), apparent authority (the vendor used your name, brand or pricing so the recipient reasonably believed the call came from you), and ratification (you knew or should have known how the leads were generated and kept the benefit).
Why the letter came to you
The recipient usually cannot identify the dialer. The call sold your product, the agent used your name, the transfer landed in your office. You are the party the recipient can find. The claim runs against everyone in the chain, and the letter went to the end of it. The other end's exposure is covered in can the lead generator be liable instead of me.
What the contract does
A good vendor agreement requires TCPA compliance, written consent in the FCC's form, registry scrubbing, calling-hours controls, record retention and an indemnity. That helps in two ways: it supports an argument that unlawful calls were outside the vendor's authority, and it gives you a claim against the vendor for what you pay. It does not make the claim against you disappear, and an indemnity from a vendor with no assets is paper.
What to do this week
Identify which vendor made each listed call. Write to that vendor the same day for the consent record, lead source, dialer log and scrub record for every listed number, with a date. Put them on notice under the indemnity. Pause their campaigns to your numbers until the records arrive. Then use what comes back: consent in the right form removes items from the count; a vendor that cannot produce it has told you the items stand. See we bought a list the vendor said was clean.
People also ask
Does my indemnity clause protect me?
It gives you a claim against the vendor for what you pay. It does not change your liability to the person called, and it is worth what the vendor can pay.
What if I never told the vendor to call that number?
The question is whether the vendor was acting within its authority to call on your behalf, whether it used your name so the recipient reasonably believed the call came from you, or whether you accepted the benefit of the calls knowing how they were made.
What should I ask the vendor for now?
The consent record, lead source, dialer log, registry scrub record and calling-hours control for every listed number, in writing, by a date before your deadline. Put them on notice under the contract at the same time.