$1,000 A CALL!: Failure To Identify Carries Steep Penalties In Washington State

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Washington’s CEMA mini-TCPA has been drawing a lot of attention lately–especially as Courts around the country struggle with whether the TCPA’s DNC provisions apply to SMS messages.

There’s no question that CEMA DOES apply to SMS messages– and in a big way. Troutman Amin, LLP recently put out a critical compliance alert because so many companies are getting caught up under the statute!

COMPLIANCE ALERT: Washington State’s CEMA Is Too Dangerous To Ignore–Critical One Sheeter Now Available!

But Washington’s dense marketing laws have other critical provisions to keep in mind as well.

For instance WASH. REV. CODE § 80.36.390(3)) provides  “[a] person making a  telephone solicitation must identify him or herself and the company or organization on whose behalf the solicitation is being made and the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds of the telephone call.”

Pretty straightforward requirement– and one that you’d think most companies would have no problem meeting.

Still in Barton v. George, 2025 WL 3078287 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 4, 2025) a defendant apparently did not identify itself on a call–bad move.

Barton walked to an easy judgment for $1,000.00 per call.

The Barton case was not a class action–but you can imagine how easy it might be bring a class suit in circumstances where a marketer is not timely disclosing their identity!

Don’t get this one wrong folks.

In the meantime Troutman Amin, LLP rates jump January 1, 2026– and everyone here at ANA in Chicago seems to be fully aware of that fact. Haha. Tons of interest and new client inquiries. Don’t get left paying higher prices for no reason!

THE FIRST $6K AN HOUR ATTORNEY?: Troutman Amin, LLP Rates Set to Rise January 1, 2026– Get In Now!

Chat soon.

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

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