FTC Settles With Timeshare Marketers in First DNC Action

Two vacation timeshare sellers and their telemarketer will pay more than $500,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges, in the first settlement of Do-Not-Call rule violations.

Under the settlement, the defendants are barred from violating the Do-Not-Call Registry in the future.

Last August, the FTC charged that Braglia Marketing Group (BMG) and its owners, Frank and Kate Braglia, unlawfully called hundreds of thousands of consumers who had placed their numbers on the Registry and that they had not paid the Registry access fee for some of the area codes they called.

The FTC also alleged that they unlawfully abandoned calls to consumers that is failed to connect callers with live agents within two seconds of their answering their phones.

According to the complaint, BMG made calls on behalf of the two timeshare and vacation properties in Atlantic City, NJ: Flagship Resort and Atlantic Palace.

The FTC filed a second lawsuit charging Flagship and Atlantic with hiring BMG to telemarket their timeshares, and that while calling on their behalf, BMG violated federal law by calling registered numbers.

The settlement with BMG and the Braglias permanently bans them from:

*Owning more than 5% of a telemarketing operation.

*Directing a telemarketing operation.

*Assuming responsibility for TSR (and Do Not Call) compliance for a telemarketing operation.

It also required them to pay more than $526,000 in civil penalties, but that amount was reduced to $3,500 based upon their demonstrated inability to pay.

The settlement with Flagship and Atlantic required them to pay a $500,000 civil penalty.