Business Registration - Telemarketers

Who is a Telemarketer?

Telemarketers are subject to West Virginia registration, licensing, and bonding requirements unless the person or transaction is exempt.

Telemarketer means any person who initiates or receives telephone calls to or from a consumer in West Virginia for the purpose of making a telemarketing solicitation.

Telemarketing solicitation means and includes any communication between a telemarketer and a prospective purchaser for the purpose of selling or attempting to sell the purchaser any consumer goods or services, if it is intended by the telemarketer that an agreement to purchase the consumer goods or services will be made after any of the following events occur:

  1. The telemarketer makes an unsolicited telephone call to a consumer, attempting to sell consumer goods or services to the consumer, when the consumer has not previously expressed an interest to the telemarketer in purchasing, investing in, or obtaining information regarding, the consumer goods or services offered by the telemarketer; or
  2. The telemarketer communicates with a consumer by any means and invites or directs the consumer to respond by any means to the telemarketer's communications, and the telemarketer intends to enter into an agreement with the consumer for the purchase of consumer goods or services at some time during the course of one or more subsequent telephone communications with the consumer.

A telemarketer may initiate or receive a communication that constitutes a telemarketing solicitation on his own behalf, through a salesperson or through an automated dialing machine.

Forms

Corporate Surety Bond

Corporate Surety Bond Guidelines

Legislative Rule

Telemarketing Act

Who is Not a Telemarketer?

A telemarketer does not include any of the following persons, entities, or sales:

  1. Charitable organizations that are exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-201.
  2. A licensed securities, commodities, or investment broker, dealer, or investment adviser who are exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-202.
  3. A licensed associated person of a licensed securities, commodities, or investment broker, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-203.
  4. A person who does not make the major sales presentation and is exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-204.
  5. A person who solicits sales by catalog who is exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-205.
  6. Business to business sales that are exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-206.
  7. A person who solicits contracts for the maintenance or repair of goods and is exempt under W. Va. Code §46A-6F-207.
  8. A person soliciting a transaction regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-208.
  9. A supervised financial organization, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-209.
  10. A licensed insurance broker, agent, customer representative, or solicitor, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-210.
  11. A person soliciting the sale of services provided by a cable television system, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-211.
  12. Certain telephone and communications companies to the extent that its acts or practices are subject to the jurisdiction or regulation of the West Virginia Public Service Commission or the Federal Communications Commission:
    1. A telephone company, or any affiliate or agent of a telephone company; or
    2. Any provider of commercial mobile service, as defined by the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1966 (47 U.S.C. §151, et seq.). W. Va. Code §46A-6F-212.
  13. Persons maintaining continuing business locations for sales of consumer goods or services, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-213.
  14. Issuers of certain securities, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-214.
  15. Book, video, record, or multimedia clubs, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-215.
  16. A registered developer or a real estate salesperson or broker, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-216.
  17. Persons soliciting the sale of electric or natural gas energy or related goods or services, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-217.
  18. Persons soliciting the sale of magazines or newspapers, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-218.
  19. Certain telemarketers who make continuous sales and gross sales for exempt persons, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-219.
  20. A person making annual sales of $100 or less of food stuffs and edibles, W. Va. Code §46A-6F-220.

Code reference: W. Va. Code §46A-6F-1 et seq.