I've read several blog pots about avoiding prospecting by phone.  In more than one, the author indicated that they really didn't understand the Do Not Call list.  Rather than risk violating the DNC list, they send letters and postcards instead.

It's a good tactic -- agents do routinely violate the Do Not Call rules and regulations.  Having taken many courses in risk management, I thought I might clarify some of the Do Not Call rules by providing a few examples.

All real estate agents MUST follow the federal laws regarding the Do Not Call list!  Otherwise, you and your company could be hit with large fines.

You decide to farm expired listings.  You arrive at your office at 8 am, and pull the expired list for the last 24 hours.  You spend the next little while searching for the sellers' phone numbers, using whatever resources are available to you at the time.  At 9 am, you begin making phone calls.  Oops!  You just violated federal law!

Even if you do not call anyone whose number is on the list, you violated federal law. How?  Because you forgot to check the list!  Before making phone calls to prospective clients that did not initiate the contact, you must check the list!

You've spent a few weeks calling expired listings. Now you have some spare time in your schedule, so you decide to go back through the older expired listings that have not yet relisted.  It is time to call them again.  Your expired listings are three weeks old.  You checked the Do Not Call list before you called three weeks ago, and you only kept the expired listings that were not on the Do Not Call list.  So, there's no need to check the list again, right?

Correct!  Law says that you must check the Do Not Call list every 31 days.  Since you checked it three weeks ago, by federal law, you are not required to check it again.

Let's say you decide to call on For Sale By Owner properties.  You drive by a home with a handmade "For Sale" sign on the front lawn.  You pick up your cell phone and place the call.  You just violated federal law, again!

That's right, even if the home is for sale, if the seller didn't initiate contact with you, You must check the list first!

Same scenario, but this time you pick up a newspaper and see a For Sale By Owner advertisement.  Since they are advertising, it must be ok for you to call, even if they are on the Do Not Call list, right?

Wrong!  Even if the seller is advertising on a billboard right across from your office, he still did not initiate contact with you specifically.  Therefore, you must still follow the Do Not Call list rules.

For more information on the Do Not Call list rules, click here.

Remember, fines for violating Do Not Call list rules can be up to $10,000.  Don't let this happen to you!  You deserve to keep every penny that you have worked so hard to earn.