PENNSYLVANIA Company faces suit over do-not-call list

The suit claims the company failed to buy and use the list.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Attorney General has filed a civil lawsuit against a local mortgage refinance company alleging that the company illegally contacted consumers on the state's do-not-call list.
The suit was filed in state Commonwealth Court against Refinance Group Inc., Attorney General Jerry Pappert said Friday.
Refinance Group was located at 479 S. Hermitage Road but calls to that number showed the telephone line had been disconnected.
The company is now doing business out of 328 N. Mercer Avenue, Sharpsville.
A company spokesman couldn't be reached to comment.
The lawsuit charges that Refinance Group failed to buy and implement the no-call list as required by the Telemarketer Registration Act to ensure that those on the list are not contacted.
Complaints
Pappert said his office filed suit after an investigation into complaints from consumers in Beaver, Columbia, Dauphin, Lancaster, Westmoreland and York counties.
He said that, between February and November 2003, Refinance Group conducted telemarketing activities to sell and promote its mortgage refinancing services and that company representatives allegedly called consumers at their homes to encourage them to refinance mortgages at a lower rate.
Pappert said more than two dozen people filed complaints with his office, saying they received the calls despite being registered on the state's no-call list.
"Our suit claims that this particular defendant is not exempt from the law and was clearly contacting consumers illegally to sell its mortgage refinancing services," Pappert said.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the company to stop operating in violation of the Telemarketer Registration Act and Consumer Protection Law.
It further asks the court to impose penalties of $1,000 per violation and $3,000 for each violation involving a consumer age 60 or older.
It also asks that the company be forced to pay for the cost of the attorney general's investigation.