Unless and until the Louisiana Public Service Commission ("LPSC") invokes the Louisiana Emergency Do Not Call Order, Louisiana's emergency telephone solicitation restrictions are not in effect. Moreover, even if the LPSC did invoke the Emergency Do Not Call Order, the restrictions do not apply to debt collection calls unless they include a telemarketing or sales element.
- The Order is only triggered if the LPSC invokes the restrictions by, among other things, notifying telephone solicitors of the emergency and restriction and posting the restriction on its website. The LPSC has not done so.
As of today, the LPSC's website emergency page says the Emergency Do Not Call Order and restrictions have not been invoked:
During a state of emergency as declared by the governor, while the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness requires the Louisiana Public Service Commission to report to the Emergency Operations Center ("EOC"), no telephonic solicitor shall engage in any form of telephonic solicitation (except as specifically allowed by R. S. 45:844.31), however, the Louisiana Public Service Commission has not been required to report to the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in response to any executive order or proclamation issued as a result of any recent event.
- Moreover, even if the Order was invoked, we do not believe it applies to debt collectors. The Order restricts certain "telephone solicitation" calls. The Order defines "telephone solicitation" as "the initiation of a telephone call or message, via any voice or data communication made by a telephonic solicitor to a residential telephonic subscriber for the purpose of encouraging a sale or rental of or investment in property, consumer goods, or services; or for the purpose of encouraging an extension of credit for property, consumer goods, or services; or for the purpose of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation of a sale or rental of or investment in property, consumer goods, or services or an extension of credit for such purposes, or for the solicitation of a contribution to a charitable organization. Although considered telephonic solicitation, exceptions are granted to voice or data communications for the following reasons: . . . Primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract, payment or performance of which has not been completed at the time of such call."
- Debt collection calls that contain no sales element are not "telephone solicitations" as defined by the Order.
- We acknowledge that there are conflicting views about whether the Order applies to debt collection calls, apparently caused by the clause in the definition of "telephone solicitation" that "[a]lthough considered telephonic solicitation, exceptions are granted to voice or data communications . . . primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract." However, as highlighted above, the LPSC's website makes clear that, even if invoked, the Order prohibits telephone solicitations "except as specifically allowed by R. S. 45:844.31." La. R.S. § 45:844.31 prohibits certain telephone solicitations during a state of emergency "except for the following reasons . . . [t]he telephonic solicitation is primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract." We believe the debt collection clause in the Order was included to cover telephone solicitation calls with a debt collection element, i.e., calls made regarding an existing debt during which the caller contemporaneously solicits a new sale or extension of credit. For example, a call by a consumer lender regarding an outstanding loan (an existing debt) in which the lender offers to "roll over" the existing debt into a new loan.
- Finally, many debt collectors also appear to fall outside the scope of the Order's definition of "telephone solicitor." The Order defines a "telephone solicitor" as "any entity identified by the National Do Not Call Registry as a 'Seller,' a 'Telemarketer,' or a 'Service Provider' and any natural person, firm, organization, partnership, association, or corporation, doing business in this state, who makes or causes to be made a telephonic solicitation, including but not limited to any communication made by use of automated dialing or recorded message devices." Debt collectors are generally not identified by the National Do Not Call Registry as sellers, telemarketers, or service providers. Further, debt collectors without an office or employees in Louisiana, and only contact Louisiana residents via interstate communications, are generally not "doing business" in Louisiana.
