Attorney General's News Release

March 25, 2008

Nixon’s latest agreement part of $382,000 returned to state in No Call court orders and settlements in last two months

St. Louis, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon announced a settlement today with TruGreen Lawn Care over violations of Missouri’s No Call law, under which the business will agree to stop contacting consumers on the state No Call list and pay $45,000 to the state. The assurance of voluntary compliance, filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court, is the sixth No Call judgment or settlement obtained by the Attorney General since Jan. 24, resulting in $382,000 returned to the state.

“The work of our No Call unit in just the past two months demonstrates our office’s aggressive enforcement of the law,” Nixon said. “Missouri’s No Call law may be six and a half years old, but my office’s commitment to protect consumers from the unwanted intrusion of telemarketing calls remains as strong as ever.”

In the past two months, Nixon’s office has obtained the following No Call actions in addition to today’s assurance of voluntary compliance:

• A Jan. 24 consent judgment against Telelytics of San Francisco, resulting in the company paying $152,000 to the state of Missouri;
• A Feb. 4 consent judgment against Xentel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resulting in the company paying $80,000 to the state;
• A Feb. 8 assurance of voluntary compliance with Bankers Life and Casualty of Chicago, resulting in the company paying $25,000 to the state;
• A Feb. 22 assurance of voluntary compliance with Virgin Mobile USA of Warren, NJ, resulting in the company paying $15,000 to the state;
• A March 5 assurance of voluntary compliance with Haberstroh Insurance Company of St. Louis, which resulted in the company paying $65,000 to the state;

Nixon’s office received complaints from consumers on the state No Call list about receiving telemarketing calls from TruGreen Lawn Care, which was attempting to sell goods and services related to lawn care and treatment products. According to today’s agreement, TruGreen Lawn Care must stop violating Missouri’s No Call law, develop policies and procedures that ensure future compliance with the law including maintaining a current version of the state No Call list, and pay $45,000 to the state. In addition, any violation of the agreement by the defendant may result in contempt of court proceedings and civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, or a civil penalty of $5,000 for future violations of the state No Call law.

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Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818