The Associated Press (via the Los Angeles Times) gets on a story near and dear to several DCist staffers hearts: The Federal Trade Commission is apparently close to taking legal action against the truly evil company (or companies?) responsible for the almost weekly robocalls many of us have been receiving that warn us our auto warranties are about to expire. Have you been getting these calls, too? The messages go something like this: “This call is to warn you that your 10-year auto warranty is about to expire! Call us today before you wait too long to fix this potentially dangerous situation – renew your auto warranty with our company today!”

This editor and DCist Weekend Editor Kriston Capps have been comparing notes about the frequency and obnoxiousness of the calls for literally months now. Neither of us own cars. Last week, Capps got so fed up that he actually tried to talk to the company.

“It was the third call from the number that day, so I answered it and pressed ‘1’ to go through,” Capps says. He asked the man who answered to take his number off of their call list, and asked for a physical address, so he could mail a cease and desist letter—or something, anything to make the calls stop.

“And the guy said, ‘I’m not giving you an address, I don’t have to give you anything, and there’s nothing you can do to stop the calls.’ And then he hung up!”

Infuriating. So today’s news is very good news for those of us who can’t seem to make the calls stop. Looks like we can thank Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) for pressing the FTC to get on top of this. According to the AP, both senators have received the calls themselves. The two men are expected to announce the FTC’s actions at a news conference Tuesday.