Montana Telemarketing and Robocall Laws: Statutes, Rules, and How They Differ from the TCPA

Overview

Montana regulates telemarketing through two principal statutes. The Montana Telemarketing Registration and Fraud Prevention Act, Title 30, chapter 14, part 14 of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA 30-14-1401 to 30-14-1414), requires sellers and telemarketers to register with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and post a $50,000 surety bond, prescribes call disclosures, gives consumers a three-business-day cancellation right on telephone sales, and defines abusive practices, including calling outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and ignoring company-specific do-not-call requests. Separately, MCA 45-8-216, a criminal statute, prohibits the use of automated systems that dial numbers and play recorded messages for sales, data gathering and similar purposes unless a live operator first obtains the called party's permission.

The Department of Justice and county attorneys enforce the telemarketing act with the tools of the Montana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act of 1973. Consumers have a private action for actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees, under MCA 30-14-1413.

Montana does not maintain a state do-not-call list. It ties company-specific do-not-call compliance to the federal rules. The headline difference from federal law: Montana requires telemarketer registration with a $50,000 bond, voids sales by unregistered telemarketers, and requires a live operator to obtain permission before any recorded sales message is played, a stricter rule than the TCPA's written-consent framework.

Key statutes and regulations

Detailed provisions

Scope and definitions

MCA 30-14-1403(11) reaches out-of-state callers:

"Telemarketer" means a person, located within or outside of this state, who in connection with telemarketing initiates or receives telephone calls to or from a consumer in this state. The term includes a seller directly engaged in telemarketing on the seller's own behalf or a person engaged in telemarketing at the direction of a seller.

MCA 30-14-1403(12):

"Telemarketing" means a plan, program, or campaign that is conducted by telephone to induce the purchase of goods or services and that involves more than one telephone call to a consumer.

Two categories fall outside the act entirely under MCA 30-14-1409: calls where the sale is not completed and payment is not required "until after a face-to-face sales presentation by the seller or telemarketer," and "telephone calls initiated by a consumer that are not the result of any solicitation by a seller or telemarketer."

Registration and bonding

MCA 30-14-1404(1)(a):

Unless exempt under 30-14-1405, a person may not act as a seller or telemarketer without first having registered with the department.

The initial application must be approved before the seller or telemarketer offers goods or services, and registration must be renewed annually (MCA 30-14-1404(1)(b), (c)). The application must disclose, among other things, the business's names, principals' business history, criminal convictions and civil judgments involving fraud or consumer protection violations, bankruptcies within seven years, the identity and Social Security numbers of each telemarketer to be employed, banking relationships, and "a copy of all scripts, outlines, or presentation material that the seller will require a telemarketer to use when soliciting" (MCA 30-14-1404(1)(d)(viii)).

The bond requirement, MCA 30-14-1404(2)(a):

The application for registration or renewal must be accompanied by a surety bond in the amount of $50,000. The bond must provide for indemnification to the state of Montana for any person suffering a loss as the result of violation of this part.

A certificate of deposit, cash or a government bond may be substituted (MCA 30-14-1404(2)(d)(i)), and the bond must remain in effect for one year after the business ceases operating in Montana (MCA 30-14-1404(2)(c)). Failure to register, failure to meet the bond requirement, false application information, and misrepresenting registration status are each violations (MCA 30-14-1404(3)).

MCA 30-14-1405 exempts eighteen categories from registration and bonding, including licensed securities and commodities professionals; "a person engaged in solicitation for a religious, charitable, political, educational, or other noncommercial purpose" (subsection (2)); "a business-to-business sale" (subsection (3)); supervised financial organizations; insurers and licensed insurance producers; telephone companies and businesses regulated by the Montana Public Service Commission or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); licensed real estate salespersons and brokers; certain retail establishments; and, in subsection (11):

a person soliciting business from consumers that have an existing business relationship with or have previously purchased from the business enterprise for which the person is soliciting;

These exemptions apply to registration and bonding only. The disclosure, cancellation and abusive practices provisions continue to apply to an exempt seller.

Disclosures at the start of the call

MCA 30-14-1410(1):

When contacting a consumer, a seller or telemarketer shall promptly disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner the following:

(a) the identity of the seller or telemarketer;

(b) that the purpose of the call is to sell goods or services;

(c) the nature of the goods or services; and

(d) that a purchase or payment is not necessary to be able to win a prize or participate in a prize promotion.

Before requesting payment, the seller must disclose the total cost, material restrictions and prize promotion odds (MCA 30-14-1410(2)), and may not misrepresent material aspects of the goods, the refund policy or any prize promotion (MCA 30-14-1410(3)).

Written cancellation notice and cooling-off period

Montana imposes a cancellation regime on telephone sales. MCA 30-14-1410(5)(a):

Except as provided in subsection (6), a telemarketing sale may not be considered final until the purchaser receives the notice required by subsection (5)(b).

The required notice must be in "not less than 10-point boldface type" and in the language of the sales presentation, and it must state in substance:

You, the purchaser, may cancel this transaction without any penalty or obligation at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after receipt of this notice. If you cancel, any payments made by you under the sale will be returned within 10 business days of the day your written notice of cancellation is received by the seller and any security interest connected to this transaction will be canceled.

The seller must also furnish its name, legal company name, street address and telephone number, and "the date and a description of the telephone solicitation" (MCA 30-14-1410(5)(c)). The buyer may also cancel "at any time prior to signing an agreement or offer to purchase" (MCA 30-14-1410(4)(a)).

The cancellation requirements do not apply where the seller has a return policy of at least seven days after delivery, discloses it, and refunds within 30 days. MCA 30-14-1410(6)(c) adds that a seller "who discloses in writing that a sale is subject to "satisfaction guaranteed", "free inspection", "a no-risk guarantee", or similar words or phrases must be considered to have met the review and return for refund policy requirements of this subsection."

Abusive practices: do-not-call, calling hours, caller ID

MCA 30-14-1412(1) lists abusive acts:

(a) use threatening, intimidating, or profane or obscene language;

(b) engage any person repeatedly or continuously with behavior a reasonable person would consider annoying, abusive, or harassing;

(c) initiate a telemarketing call to a person who has stated previously, in compliance with 16 CFR 310 and 47 CFR 64.1200, that the person does not wish to receive solicitation calls from that seller or telemarketer;

(d) engage in telemarketing to a person's residence at any time other than between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the called person's location;

(e) engage in any other conduct that would be considered abusive to any reasonable consumer; or

(f) intentionally block a person using caller identification or "*69" from accessing the seller's or telemarketer's phone number.

Subsection (1)(f) permits a substitute name and number "that accurately identify the entity causing the call to be made and a working telephone number at which the entity's personnel can be contacted."

State do-not-call list: Montana does not maintain its own list and has no statute incorporating the national registry. Company-specific requests are enforced under subsection (1)(c) by reference to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule and the FCC rule. Calling hours mirror the federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window. There is no numeric frequency cap and no Sunday or holiday restriction.

Prohibited acts

MCA 30-14-1411(1) makes it a violation to "purposely or knowingly" represent registration as state endorsement, to "assist, support, or provide substantial assistance to any telemarketer when the seller knew or should have known that the telemarketer was engaged in any act or practice violating 30-14-1408 or this section," to charge advance fees for credit repair or recovery services, to submit demand drafts "without the person's express written authorization," and to use couriers to collect payment before inspection.

Recordkeeping

MCA 30-14-1408(1)(a): "A telemarketer shall keep records subject to this section for a period of 24 months from the date the record is produced." Covered records include scripts and promotional materials, prize recipients, customer purchases, employee names (with any fictitious name "traceable to only one specific employee"), and written authorizations.

Automated telephone solicitation (MCA 45-8-216)

MCA 45-8-216(1):

A person may not use an automated telephone system, device, or facsimile machine for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers and playing of recorded messages if a message is completed to the dialed number for the purpose of:

(a) offering goods or services for sale;

(b) conveying information on goods or services in soliciting sales or purchases;

(c) soliciting information;

(d) gathering data or statistics; or

(e) promoting a political campaign or any use related to a political campaign.

The exceptions, MCA 45-8-216(2):

This section does not prohibit the use of an automated telephone system, device, or facsimile machine described under subsection (1) for purposes of informing purchasers of the receipt, availability for delivery, delay in delivery, or other pertinent information on the status of any purchased goods or services, of responding to an inquiry initiated by any person, or of providing any other pertinent information when there is a preexisting business relationship. This section does not prohibit the use of an automated telephone system or device if the permission of the called party is obtained by a live operator before the recorded message is delivered.

A violation is punishable by "a fine of not more than $2,500" (MCA 45-8-216(3)). The statute is criminal and contains no private right of action.

Two points of interpretation follow from the text. First, the statute targets systems that both select and dial numbers and play recorded messages; it does not depend on a random or sequential number generator, so the narrowing of the federal autodialer definition in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021), does not limit it. Second, the political-campaign prong in subsection (1)(e) was held unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit in 2019 (discussed below) but remains in the printed code.

Text messages

Montana has no statute specifically addressing marketing text messages. A text sent as part of "telemarketing," a campaign "conducted by telephone," may fall within the telemarketing act's disclosure and abusive practices provisions, but no Montana court decision applying the act to texts was located.

Private right of action

MCA 30-14-1413:

(1) The sale of any goods or services by an unregistered seller or telemarketer that is required to register is void.

(2) A person that suffers a loss or harm as a result of an unfair and deceptive act or practice or a prohibited act or practice is entitled to recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, attorney fees, court costs, and any other remedies provided by law.

For abusive practices, including calling-hour and do-not-call violations, subsection (3) provides that a harmed person "is entitled to receive injunctive or declaratory relief" in addition to the remedies in subsection (2). Judgments may be satisfied from the registrant's bond (MCA 30-14-1413(1)). The burden of proving an exemption is on the person claiming it (MCA 30-14-1413(5)).

The general Consumer Protection Act action in MCA 30-14-133(1)(a) allows "an individual action but not a class action," with damages of any ascertainable loss or $500, whichever is greater. As amended through 2025, the court may treble only "if actual damages do not exceed $100,000," may not award punitive damages, and may award the prevailing party attorney fees, capped at $250 an hour and unavailable if the consumer recovers actual damages of $100,000 or more (MCA 30-14-133(1)(a), (3)). MCA 30-14-1402(2) states that the telemarketing act does not apply to claims under part 5 of chapter 14, and vice versa. The telemarketing act's own remedy provision does not contain an express class-action bar; whether the MCA 30-14-133 bar extends to MCA 30-14-1413 claims has not been resolved by a Montana appellate court in any decision located for this summary. MCA 30-14-133(1)(a) itself points to the period in MCA 27-2-211, which sets two years for "a liability created by statute" (MCA 27-2-211(1)(c)). Part 14 has no limitations provision of its own, and no Montana decision applying a specific period to MCA 30-14-1413 was located; the two-year statutory-liability period is the most likely candidate.

State enforcement and penalties

MCA 30-14-1407(1) gives the Department of Justice and county attorneys "the same authority to enforce and carry out the provisions of this part as they have under Title 30, chapter 14, part 1." Under MCA 30-14-142(2), a court may impose "a civil fine of not more than $10,000 for each violation" for willful violations, and $10,000 per violation of an injunction (MCA 30-14-142(1)). Criminal penalties under MCA 30-14-1414 are significant: failure to comply with the registration, recordkeeping, disclosure, prohibited-practice or abusive-practice provisions is "an absolute liability offense," punishable on first conviction by up to $500 or six months in jail and on subsequent conviction by up to $50,000 or five years in state prison; telemarketing fraud exceeding $500 is punishable by up to $50,000 or ten years.

How Montana differs from federal law

Montana is stricter than federal law in its registration and bonding regime, its voiding of unregistered sales, its mandatory cancellation notice, and its live-operator requirement for recorded messages, which applies even to information-gathering and survey calls. It is looser in that it has no state do-not-call list, no text-specific statute, a robocall ban enforced only by criminal fine, and a $500 private remedy that requires loss or harm (with fees) rather than a per-call statutory award. The TCPA applies concurrently and supplies the per-call remedies that Montana law does not.

Notable case law

Victory Processing, LLC v. Fox, 937 F.3d 1218 (9th Cir. 2019), No. 18-35163 (Sept. 10, 2019) Victory Processing v. Fox (9th Cir. 2019) opinion. Victory Processing, a Michigan firm offering political consulting and data gathering services that primarily uses robocalls, and a co-plaintiff challenged MCA 45-8-216(1)(e). The Ninth Circuit reasoned that "Regulating robocalls based on the content of their messaging presents a more severe threat to First Amendment freedoms than regulating their time, place, and manner," and that "prohibiting political robocalls strikes at the heart of the First Amendment." While it agreed that Montana had "demonstrated a compelling state interest in regulating automated telephone calls," it held that the provision "is not narrowly tailored to address the State's compelling governmental interests," so "the Robocall Statute's restriction on political messages does not survive strict scrutiny." The court reversed summary judgment for the Attorney General. The decision addressed only subsection (1)(e); the commercial prongs of the statute were not before the court.

Recent amendments

• The telemarketing act was enacted in 1999 (Ch. 342, L. 1999). Sections 30-14-1403, 30-14-1407, 30-14-1412 and 30-14-1413 were amended in 2005 (Ch. 280, L. 2005), and MCA 30-14-1413 was amended again in 2021 (Ch. 535, L. 2021), according to the history notes in the 2025 Montana Code Annotated.
• MCA 45-8-216 has not been amended since its 1991 enactment (Ch. 230, L. 1991).
• MCA 30-14-133, the general Consumer Protection Act private action, was amended in 2025 (Sec. 3, Ch. 199, L. 2025). The current text limits trebling to cases where actual damages do not exceed $100,000 and caps attorney fees as described above.
• No 2023 or 2025 session law amending the telemarketing act or MCA 45-8-216 appears in the history notes of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated, the current edition. The Montana Legislature did not meet in regular session in 2026.

Practical compliance checklist

• Determine whether any MCA 30-14-1405 exemption applies; if not, register with the Montana Department of Justice and post the $50,000 bond (or permitted substitute) before calling Montana consumers, and renew annually.
• Submit current scripts with the registration application and update the filing when scripts change.
• Open every call with the seller's identity, the sales purpose and the nature of the goods or services.
• Deliver the statutory three-business-day cancellation notice in 10-point boldface type for each telephone sale, or adopt and disclose a qualifying seven-day return policy.
• Do not play recorded sales or survey messages to Montana numbers unless a live operator first obtains permission, or the call falls within a statutory exception; continue to meet federal prior express written consent requirements.
• Honor company-specific do-not-call requests in compliance with the TSR and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, and scrub against the national registry.
• Limit calls to 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. at the called person's location and transmit accurate caller ID.
• Retain scripts, customer, prize and employee records for at least 24 months under Montana law and five years under the TSR.

References

• MCA Title 30, chapter 14, part 14 (index): https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/sections_index.html
• MCA 30-14-1403: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0030/0300-0140-0140-0030.html
• MCA 30-14-1404: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0040/0300-0140-0140-0040.html
• MCA 30-14-1405: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0050/0300-0140-0140-0050.html
• MCA 30-14-1410: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0100/0300-0140-0140-0100.html
• MCA 30-14-1412: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0120/0300-0140-0140-0120.html
• MCA 30-14-1413: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0130/0300-0140-0140-0130.html
• MCA 30-14-1414: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0140/0300-0140-0140-0140.html
• MCA 45-8-216: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0450/chapter_0080/part_0020/section_0160/0450-0080-0020-0160.html
• MCA 30-14-133: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0010/section_0330/0300-0140-0010-0330.html
• MCA 30-14-142: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0010/section_0420/0300-0140-0010-0420.html
• MCA 30-14-1402: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0020/0300-0140-0140-0020.html
• MCA 30-14-1407: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0070/0300-0140-0140-0070.html
• MCA 30-14-1408: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0080/0300-0140-0140-0080.html
• MCA 30-14-1409: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0090/0300-0140-0140-0090.html
• MCA 30-14-1411: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0300/chapter_0140/part_0140/section_0110/0300-0140-0140-0110.html
• MCA 27-2-211: https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0270/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0110/0270-0020-0020-0110.html
• Victory Processing, LLC v. Fox, No. 18-35163: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/09/10/18-35163.pdf
• 47 U.S.C. § 227: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title47/html/USCODE-2023-title47-chap5-subchapII-partI-sec227.htm
• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
• 16 C.F.R. Part 310: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310

This page summarizes state law for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Statutes change; confirm current text with the official source before relying on it.