U.S. Do-Not-Call violators penalized $7.7 million

U.S. Do-Not-Call violators penalized $7.7 million
Wed Nov 7, 2007 12:57pm EST

WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Ameriquest Mortgage Co, bed-seller Craftmatic (CRCC.PK: Quote, Profile, Research), security company ADT and other companies paid fines of $7.7 million dollars for telephoning consumers who had put their names on a do-not-call list, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday.

Craftmatic Industries Inc, which makes adjustable beds, and three of its subsidiaries paid civil penalties of $4.4 million because they ran a sweepstakes that offered a free bed, with the entry form requiring a telephone number.

"You're really trying to fool consumers into giving up their phone numbers," said FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras.

The security company ADT was fined $2 million while two of its dealers paid smaller fines for telephoning people who had put their numbers on the do-not-call registry, the FTC said.

Ameriquest, which paid a $1 million penalty, called those whose numbers had been collected from Web sites that offered financial information.

Because Ameriquest, once the largest U.S. subprime mortgage lender, did not have an established business relationship with these people, as the do-not-call registry requires, it was not legal for it to contact them.

Ameriquest's parent ACC Capital Holdings said in late August that it planned to wind down its retail mortgage business. (Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)