Tips

On Aug. 28, I filed my first lawsuit ever. I sued a Fairfax company in D.C.'s small claims court for two advertising calls I received on behalf of the company.

The phone messages that were left for me on my voice mail used a prerecorded voice. Solicitation calls using prerecorded voices are illegal under federal law, with the minimum damages set at $500 per violation.

They bug me, partly because there's no one on the other end to inform that I'd like to be placed on the company's do-not-call list. Since there were two calls (one in October and one in November), I am suing for $1,000. I have tape recordings of both voice mail messages.

My hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sept. 26.

I'll let readers know how it goes, in case others are interested in filing lawsuits, too.