St. Louis, MO - A St. Charles company that provides home mortgage services will pay $15,000 to the state of Missouri and develop a detailed plan to ensure further compliance with the state's No Call law under a settlement obtained by Attorney General Jay Nixon.

The assurance of voluntary compliance, filed yesterday in St. Louis City Circuit Court, was the result of 76 complaints Nixon's office received against Right Choice Mortgage and its owners, John T. O'Connor and John M. Linnenbrink. Consumers on the No Call list complained that the company violated the state's No Call law by making unwanted telemarketing calls pitching home mortgages and refinancing opportunities. The calls occurred from August through September 2005, Nixon said.

“There are approximately 2.3 million phone lines on our No Call list for a good reason - Missourians don't want intrusive calls from telemarketers,” Nixon said. “I am pleased we were able to resolve this matter, thanks to the aggressive enforcement of the law by my office.”

According to the agreement, Right Choice Mortgage must pay $15,000 to the state Merchandising Practices Revolving Fund and obey all merchandising practices and No Call laws in the future. The respondents must also provide the Attorney General's Office with a detailed plan of practices and procedures they will implement in their business to ensure compliance with the state No Call law. They have also agreed to subscribe to, and remain current with, the Missouri No Call database.

Any future violation of the agreement by the respondents could result in contempt of court proceedings and civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation.

Missouri residents who wish to register their telephone numbers on the No Call list or file a complaint regarding a No Call violation can do so by visiting the Attorney General's Web site at www.ago.mo.gov or by calling 1-866-NOCALL1.

To date, Nixon's office has obtained more than $1.7 million from businesses that have violated Missouri's No Call law, which took effect in 2001. Nearly 2.3 million residential phone numbers are on the Attorney General's No Call list.