does anyone know...

[deltaphi94]

if it's legal to tape a phone conversation without telling the person who is being taped?

i know that with customer service type calls, they tell you that the call may be monitored or recorded. so, if you record calls that come in to your home phone, can you record them and not mention it to the people who are calling?

[DeltaSigStan]

From my experiences, it's legal to tape it if that person CALLS YOU. If you call the person, then you're assed out.

[SATX*APhi]

Okay, how about this situation. My little sister was rear ended by a guy. After both got out of the car, he said, "It's your fault! You cut me off!" Being the calm person she is, she didn't argue and said, "I'm sorry." Under Texas law, 99% of the time you are the guilty party if you hit someone from behind. After my little sister contacted his insurance, they told her that they were fighting liability because their client (the guy who rear ended her) had a recorded conversation between them where she apologized for cutting him off. He never told her he was recording the conversation, so can that be used??

[deltaphi94]

I don't know about the recorded conversation with your sister, but - at least in Ohio - her saying "I'm sorry" could be viewed as admission of guilt. I was in an accident about 10 years ago, and the woman in the other car was (think) 80 or 81. It was near an intersection, and I swear she ran a red light. I said I was sorry, and I was at fault. It didn't help that I was a fairly new driver, either.

[teke4life]

ok, my roomate works in insurance claims. whether he taped her saying that not should be inconsequential. they can usually tell from point of impact and tire skids. plus, all your sister needs to say is that he was acting irate and irrationally and that she wanted to avoid any type of confrontation with him. i don't know the fault laws in texas, but if you what you say is true about fault percentage, they should be able to tell from the damage to both cars whether he had ample time to stop, or if he was cut off.

[pinkyphimu]

i think that you have to let someone know that you are taping them. if you don't then it is inadmissable. i seem to remember that even the police, etc. need a court order to have conversations recorded without letting the person know they are being taped. i bet one of our gc lawyers will be able to fill you in!

short of taping a conversation, have a witness present. preferrably someone who is not "involved" with the issue at hand. have the witness take notes about the convesation. also take your own notes. type them up and have the witness email them to you. include the date, place, who was there, etc and then just type out the conversation. if you can, find a person who can take GREAT notes, including quotes!!!

[juniorgrrl]

I know that its a federal offense to tape a conversation that you're not a party to without the consent of the parties.

AFAIK, you can tape it IF you are in the conversation.

I don't have my Criminal Procedure outline with me right now - I can check and get back to ya'll - Maybe kddani or dzandiloo will know - they're also law students.

[bethany1982]

It depends on what state she is in. Some states require both parties to consent to the recording, while others have one party consent laws. Generally speaking, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington are two party consent states. All others are one party consent states. Hope this helps.

SATX*APhi

For TX, the following applies....

Texas Penal Code § 16.02: So long as a wire, oral or electronic communication — including the radio portion of any cordless telephone call — is not recorded for a criminal or tortious purpose, anyone who is a party to the communication, or who has the consent of a party, can lawfully record the communication and disclose its contents.

Even though the recording was legal, it is doubtful that the recording would be used by the insurance company if they were pressured by a good attorney or another insurance company.

Your friend's insurance company should take care of the issue raised by the other driver's company. The fact that she said she was sorry in a phone conversation is a weak point, unless she also admitted some type of fault. Even then, she could say the conversation was held under duress, or that she was simply being polite. The accident investigation will carry the weight, not a recorded phone conversation.

[deltaphi94]

Originally posted by pinkyphimu
i think that you have to let someone know that you are taping them. if you don't then it is inadmissable. i seem to remember that even the police, etc. need a court order to have conversations recorded without letting the person know they are being taped. i bet one of our gc lawyers will be able to fill you in!

short of taping a conversation, have a witness present. preferrably someone who is not "involved" with the issue at hand. have the witness take notes about the convesation. also take your own notes. type them up and have the witness email them to you. include the date, place, who was there, etc and then just type out the conversation. if you can, find a person who can take GREAT notes, including quotes!!!

I thought you had to let someone know if you were taping them, too, and the question came up recently. So, no, I'm not taping anyone. I just wondered how legal it is.

[SATX*APhi]

bethany1982, you're just awesome! Thanks.