Most compliance spending goes toward avoiding violations. A litigator scrub is different: it is aimed at the small population that turns violations into money. They are not a random slice of your list — they are the reason a technically minor mistake becomes a five-figure claim.
Why they pass every other check
This is the part that catches teams out. A serial filer's number is a real, active mobile line on a major carrier. It validates. It has a clean line type. It is deliverable. Every quality signal you would normally use says it is one of the better records in your file.
Practitioners who defend these claims describe a consistent operating pattern:
- Seeding. Numbers are deliberately entered into lead-generation forms, quote-comparison sites and contest entries, so they enter the lead economy and get resold into purchased lists.
- Multiple lines. Maintaining many numbers multiplies the opportunities, and cheap VoIP makes lines trivial to acquire.
- Meticulous records. Every call logged with time, caller ID and content — often documented better than the caller's own consent records.
- Absence from the DNC registry. Registering would reduce inbound calls, which defeats the purpose.
That last point is why a DNC-only process is actively misleading. It removes the people who asked not to be called and retains the people who want to be called so they can sue.
The arithmetic
Screening 5,000 numbers at $0.044 per row costs $220. A single willful violation reaches $1,500 — nearly seven times the cost of screening the entire list. A filer who documents a campaign of repeated contacts turns one number into a five-figure claim, before defence costs.
How the scrub runs
- Upload. CSV or XLSX, up to 5,000 rows. The phone column is detected automatically and every number is normalised to E.164, so the same line written five ways is screened once rather than five times.
- Screen. Each number is matched against a court-sourced litigator database. In the same pass, carrier-level validation returns line type and carrier — the two checks run in parallel, not sequentially.
- Download. Matches are removed from the deliverable file and written to an append-only audit record. You get back a dialler-ready CSV with litigator status, line type and carrier appended, and every original column preserved.
You see the row count and exact cost before paying. No subscription, no minimum, no integration work.
The audit record is half the value
The output file is what you dial. The audit record is what you produce later.
Being able to show that a specific number was screened against a litigator database on a specific date, before any dial, is a materially different position from arguing that your process would have caught it. Statutory damages triple for willful or knowing violations, and the presence of a documented, dated screening step is exactly the kind of evidence that argues against that finding. It is worth keeping even for numbers that passed.
What it does not do
We would rather set this out plainly than have you discover it later.
- It is not a guarantee. First-time filers are not in any database. This reduces exposure; it does not remove it.
- It is not DNC scrubbing. Registry access runs through your own SAN and remains your obligation as the seller. NumberBroom does not sell it. See the registry entry.
- It is not consent. No external file can tell you whether you have permission to call someone. Documented prior express written consent is a record only you can hold.
- It does not cover reassignment. A number that changed hands since consent was given is a separate problem — see the Reassigned Numbers Database.
A litigator scrub is one control among several. It happens to be the one with the most money attached to a miss.
State statutes raise the stakes
Federal damages are not the whole exposure. Several states have their own telemarketing statutes with separate private rights of action, so a single call can be pleaded under federal and state law at once. Florida's additionally shifts attorney fees to the prevailing party, which is why it generates most of the state-level filings. See state mini-TCPA laws.
The filers know exactly which states those are.
Check a single number free, or see bulk pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a litigator scrub cost?
NumberBroom bundles it with carrier-level validation at $0.044 per row, no subscription. A 5,000-row list is $220 for both checks.
The comparison that matters is the pricing model. Standalone litigator databases are typically sold as subscriptions starting around $130 a month, charged whether you scrub that month or not. If you run campaigns in bursts, per-job pricing is usually far cheaper — and you are not buying two products to get two checks.
Can I run a batch litigator scrub on a whole CSV?
Yes — that is the normal use. Upload a CSV or XLSX of up to 5,000 rows, the phone column is detected automatically, and every row is screened in one job. You see the exact cost before paying and download a file with the litigator flag appended and matches removed.
There is no API integration required and no minimum volume.
Where does the litigator data come from?
Public court filings. Federal and state TCPA complaints name plaintiffs and, in many cases, the numbers at issue. Vendors aggregate those filings, add known plaintiff-firm client lists, and update as new suits are filed.
It is a record of who has sued, which is what makes it useful and also what bounds it.
Does a litigator scrub guarantee I will not be sued?
No, and treat any vendor who says otherwise with suspicion. A first-time filer is by definition not in any database yet. Coverage is necessarily incomplete, so a litigator scrub reduces exposure rather than eliminating it.
What it also does is create a record that the number was screened before any dial. That is materially stronger evidence of a deliberate compliance process than asserting after the fact that you would have screened it — and a documented process is part of what argues against a willfulness finding.
Is a litigator scrub the same as a DNC scrub?
No, and they are not substitutes. A DNC scrub checks the National Do Not Call Registry. A litigator scrub checks a court-sourced database of people who sue.
The two populations barely overlap — serial filers are frequently not registered, because registering would reduce the calls they receive and the calls are the point. Running only a DNC scrub filters out the people least likely to sue you and leaves in the people most likely to. See the registry entry.
How often should I re-scrub?
Before each campaign. New suits are filed continuously, so the database changes weekly. A list screened three months ago has three months of new filers in it.