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

Overview

North Carolina regulates telemarketing mainly through Article 4 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, the Telephone Solicitations article (N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 75-100 to 75-105). The article adopts the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry as the state's do-not-call list. It imposes its own disclosure, calling-hour, minor-screening, caller ID and recordkeeping duties, and it incorporates large parts of the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) as state law. It also sharply restricts "automatic dialing and recorded message players," meaning prerecorded-message calls, and it has applied to text messages since 2019. A separate statute, the Telephonic Seller Registration and Bond Requirement (N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 66-260 to 66-266), requires many telephonic sellers to register annually with the Secretary of State and to bond high-value prize promotions.

North Carolina's private remedy is significant. A telephone subscriber who receives a telephone solicitation in violation of the article may sue for $500 for the first violation, $1,000 for the second, and $5,000 for each later violation within two years, and may recover attorney fees for willful violations. The Attorney General may seek the same escalating civil penalties. A North Carolina Business Court decision in January 2026 granted the State partial summary judgment on do-not-call and robocall claims and placed the burden of proving consent squarely on the caller.

Key statutes

Detailed provisions

Definitions and scope

A "Telephone solicitation" is defined in § 75-101(9) as:

A voice or text communication, whether prerecorded, live, or a facsimile, over a telephone line or wireless telephone network or via a commercial mobile radio service that is made by a telephone solicitor to a telephone subscriber for the purpose of soliciting or encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services; obtaining or providing information that will or may be used for that purpose; soliciting or encouraging a telephone subscriber's participation in any contest, sweepstakes, raffle, or lottery, whether legal or illegal; or obtaining a charitable donation. "Telephone solicitation" also includes those transactions that are defined as "telemarketing" under the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

The definition includes charitable solicitations, contests and sweepstakes, and lead-generation calls that obtain "information that will or may be used for that purpose." Session Law 2019-188, effective December 1, 2019, added the words "voice or text communication." Marketing texts are therefore expressly covered.

A "Telephone solicitor" is "Any individual, business establishment, business, or other legal entity doing business in this State that, directly or through salespersons or agents, makes or attempts to make telephone solicitations or causes telephone solicitations to be made" (§ 75-101(10)). "Doing business in this State" means "To make or cause to be made any telephone solicitation to North Carolina telephone subscribers, whether the telephone solicitations are made from a location inside North Carolina or outside North Carolina" (§ 75-101(4)). The article therefore reaches out-of-state callers and sellers that cause calls to be made.

A "Telephone subscriber" is "An individual who subscribes to a residential telephone service from a local exchange company, a competing local provider certified to do business in North Carolina, or a wireless telephone company; or the individuals living or residing with that individual" (§ 75-101(11)). Wireless subscribers are expressly included.

Established business relationship. Under § 75-101(5), an established business relationship rests on the consumer's purchase, rental, lease or financial transaction "within the 18 months immediately preceding the date of a telephone solicitation," or on the consumer's inquiry or application "within the three months immediately preceding the date of a telephone solicitation." These windows match the federal 18-month and 3-month periods.

Express invitation or permission. Under § 75-101(6), consent means "Any invitation or permission that is registered by the telephone subscriber on an independent form and that contains the telephone number to which calls can be placed and the signature of the telephone subscriber. The form may be completed and signed electronically."

Do-not-call

Section 75-102(a) provides: "Except as provided in G.S. 75-103, no telephone solicitor shall make a telephone solicitation to a telephone subscriber's telephone number if the telephone subscriber's telephone number appears in the latest edition of the "Do Not Call" Registry." The "Do Not Call" Registry is defined as the FTC registry, "any other telemarketing registry created by the federal government," and any registry the Attorney General creates if the federal registry stops operating (§ 75-101(3); § 75-102(n)). Under § 75-102(d), "Compliance with the time requirements within the Telemarketing Sales Rule for incorporating and complying with updated versions of the "Do Not Call" Registry shall constitute compliance with North Carolina law."

Exceptions. Under § 75-103(a), the registry prohibition does not apply to solicitations:

• made with the subscriber's prior express invitation or permission;
• made to a subscriber with whom the solicitor has an established business relationship;
• made by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization;
• made by small solicitors that employ "fewer than 10 full-time or part-time direct employees," where the calls are made by those employees and average no more than 10 per week during a calendar year;
• made solely to arrange a later face-to-face meeting, without seeking payment or completing a sale on the call; or
• made by a person primarily soliciting newspaper subscriptions.

Under § 75-103(b), the internal opt-out duty in § 75-102(c)(3), the written-procedures duty in § 75-102(d), the minor-screening duty in § 75-102(g), and the caller-identity recordkeeping duty in § 75-102(j) do not apply to solicitations within the first five exceptions.

Burden of proving consent. Section 75-103(e) provides: "In any dispute regarding whether a telephone subscriber has provided an express invitation or permission under subsection (a) of this section, the telephone solicitor has the burden of proving that the telephone subscriber has provided this permission by producing the original document, a facsimile document, or an electronic form, signed by the telephone subscriber, or other authentication that evidences permission." A subscriber may later retract permission by stating a desire not to receive further solicitations.

Section 75-102(k) bars calling a registered number to ask for permission: "A telephone solicitor shall not contact a telephone subscriber by telephone to obtain this express invitation or permission."

Entity-specific requests. Section 75-102(b) prohibits a solicitation to a number "if the telephone subscriber previously has communicated to the telephone solicitor a desire to receive no further telephone solicitations from the telephone solicitor to that number." Under § 75-102(c)(3), if a subscriber asks to be taken off the contact list, the solicitor "shall take all steps necessary to remove the telephone subscriber's name and telephone number from the contact list of the telephone solicitor and stop calling the telephone subscriber within 30 business days." Where a solicitor relies on an affiliate's established business relationship to call a registered number, an opt-out request must be honored by the solicitor and the affiliate "within 60 business days" (§ 75-102(c)(5)).

Written procedures and training. Under § 75-102(d), "Every telephone solicitor shall implement systems and written procedures to prevent further telephone solicitations to any telephone subscriber who has asked not to be called again at a specific number or numbers or whose telephone number appears in the "Do Not Call" Registry." Solicitors must also "train, monitor, and enforce compliance by its employees and shall monitor and enforce compliance by its independent contractors in those systems and procedures."

Disclosures, hours, minors, conduct, and caller ID

Section 75-102(c) requires every telephone solicitor to "At the beginning of the telephone solicitation, state clearly the identity of the telephone solicitor and identify the individual making the telephone solicitation." On request, the solicitor must provide "the telephone number or address at which the telephone solicitor may be contacted." If the subscriber objects to the solicitation, the solicitor must "terminate the telephone solicitation and promptly disconnect from the telephone line of the person receiving the call" (§ 75-102(c)(4)).

Calling hours. Section 75-102(f) provides: "No telephone solicitor shall make a telephone solicitation before 8:00 A.M. or after 9:00 P.M." Unlike the federal rule, the statute does not say whose local time controls.

Minors. Section 75-102(g) provides: "A telephone solicitor shall inquire as to whether the telephone subscriber is under the age of 18. If the telephone subscriber purports to be less than 18 years of age, the telephone solicitor shall discontinue the call immediately." The inquiry is not required where the solicitor "has taken reasonable steps to remove all telephone contacts who are less than 18 years of age from its list" or "can demonstrate that it does not target subscribers who are less than" 18 years of age. The Telephonic Seller Registration statute contains a parallel requirement (§ 66-264). Federal law has no comparable age-screening rule.

Abusive conduct. Section 75-102(h) provides: "No telephone solicitor shall engage in threats, intimidation, or the use of profane or obscene language."

Caller ID. As rewritten by Session Law 2019-188, § 75-102(i) provides: "No telephone solicitor shall cause misleading information to be transmitted to users of caller identification technologies or otherwise block or misrepresent the origin of the telephone solicitation." Displaying "the name and number of the entity the solicitation is being made on behalf of" is permitted.

Incorporation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule

Section 75-102(e) makes the core of the TSR enforceable as state law: "Except as provided in G.S. 75-103, no telephone solicitor shall violate any requirement of section 310.3 of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (Deceptive telemarketing acts or practices), section 310.4 of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (Abusive telemarketing acts or practices), and section 310.5 of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (Record keeping requirements)." The "Telemarketing Sales Rule" is defined as 16 C.F.R. Part 310 "as amended" (§ 75-101(8)). Federal TSR amendments therefore flow into North Carolina law, and a subscriber may sue under § 75-105(b) for conduct, such as call abandonment, that federal law leaves to the FTC.

Consent, established-business-relationship and nonprofit calls are not entirely exempt. Under § 75-103(d), they must still comply with 16 C.F.R. §§ 310.3(a)(2)-(4), 310.3(c), 310.3(d), 310.4(a), 310.4(b)(1)(i) and (iv), (b)(2)-(4), and 310.4(e). These include the TSR's abandonment and caller ID rules.

Records. Under § 75-102(j), a telephone solicitor "shall keep a record for a period of 24 months from the date a telephone solicitation is made of the legal name, any fictitious name used, the resident address, the telephone number, and the job title of each individual who makes a telephone solicitation for that telephone solicitor." Fictitious names must be "traceable only to the specific individual."

Validity of contracts. Section 75-102(o) provides that "no contract or purchase agreement entered into during a telephone solicitation is valid, and no money from the prospective purchaser is due thereunder," unless the sales representations are not deceptive or abusive under TSR §§ 310.3 and 310.4, the solicitor has complied with TSR recordkeeping, and the transaction complies "with all other applicable federal and State laws, including Article 1 of this Chapter."

Automatic dialing and recorded message players

Section 75-104(a) provides: "Except as provided in this section, no person may use an automatic dialing and recorded message player to make an unsolicited telephone call." The equipment definition in § 75-101(2) is broad:

Any automatic equipment that incorporates a storage capability of telephone numbers to be called or a random or a sequential number generator capable of producing numbers to be called that, working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, disseminates a prerecorded message to the telephone number called.

An "Unsolicited telephone call" is "A voice or text communication, whether prerecorded, live, or a facsimile, over a telephone line or wireless telephone network or via a commercial mobile radio service that is made by a person to a telephone subscriber without prior express invitation or permission" (§ 75-101(12)). The § 75-104 prohibition applies to any "person," not only telephone solicitors.

Permitted uses. Section 75-104(b) allows recorded-message calls only in listed circumstances:

• Noncommercial callers. Calls by tax-exempt charitable or civic organizations, political parties or candidates, government officials, and opinion polling organizations or broadcasters conducting polls, where "No part of the call is used to make a telephone solicitation" and the caller identifies its name, contact information and the nature of the call.
• Live-operator introduction. Before the recorded message plays, "a live operator complies with G.S. 75-102(c), states the nature and length in minutes of the recorded message, and asks for and receives prior approval to play the recorded message from the person receiving the call" (§ 75-104(b)(2)).
• Informational calls. Calls about existing debts or contracts, appointment reminders, utility outage notices, health-insurer benefit information, product and medication recalls, unclaimed prescriptions, and court notification calls, each without any solicitation.
• TSR compliance. A message played to comply with the TSR's abandoned-call rule, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(b)(4).

The statute has no general exception for prerecorded sales calls made with the recipient's prior express written consent. Instead, the prohibition reaches only "unsolicited" calls, meaning calls made without "prior express invitation or permission" as defined in § 75-101(6): an independent signed form containing the telephone number. Under the 2026 MV Realty decision discussed below, the caller must prove that consent.

Telephonic seller registration

Under § 66-261(a), "Not less than 10 days before commencing telephone solicitations in this State, a telephonic seller shall register with the Secretary by filing the information required in G.S. 66-262 and paying a filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00)." Registration is "valid for one year from the effective date thereof and may be annually renewed" (§ 66-261(c)). The filing must list principals, room operators, calling locations and telephone numbers, and must summarize enforcement actions brought during the preceding five years (§ 66-262).

The exemptions in § 66-260(11) are extensive. They include securities dealers, insurance agents, banks and credit unions, section 501(c)(3) organizations, catalog sellers, real estate licensees, business-to-business sellers, issuers of registered securities, sellers that arrange a later face-to-face presentation, and foreign entities holding a North Carolina certificate of authority that do business under that name.

For any prize promotion valued at $500 or more, the seller must notify the Secretary at least 10 days in advance and "post a bond with the Secretary for the market value or the represented value, whichever is greater, of all gifts or prizes represented as available under the promotion" (§ 66-263(a)). Under § 66-266(a), "Any violation of this Article shall constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of G.S. 75-1.1." The Attorney General may obtain civil penalties of "up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation involving North Carolina purchasers or prospective purchasers who are 65 years of age or older" (§ 66-266(b)).

Enforcement and remedies

Attorney General. Under § 75-105(a), the Attorney General may investigate complaints and sue for civil penalties and equitable relief. The penalty is either:

(1) Five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the first violation, one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second violation, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the third and any other violation that occurs within two years of the first violation.

(2) One hundred dollars ($100.00) for each violation within two years of the first violation, if the solicitor can show that the violations are the result of a mistake and the telephone solicitor either made the telephone solicitation under G.S. 75-103(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5), or can show that the telephone solicitor complied with G.S. 75-102(d).

Private action. Section 75-105(b) provides: "A telephone subscriber who has received a telephone solicitation from or on behalf of a telephone solicitor in violation of this Article may bring any of the following actions in civil court." A subscriber may sue to enjoin further violations or to recover "five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the first violation, one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second violation, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the third and any other violation that occurs within two years of the first violation." The private action covers solicitations "from or on behalf of" a telephone solicitor, so sellers that use vendors are exposed.

Mistake defense. Under § 75-105(c), "No action may be brought under subsection (b) of this section if the violations are a result of mistake" and the solicitor either made the call under a § 75-103(a) exception or "can show that the telephone solicitor complied with G.S. 75-102(d)," the written-procedures and training requirement. Written procedures thus serve as both a compliance obligation and a defense.

Fees, venue, and federal claims. Under § 75-105(d), the court "may award a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorneys' fees if the court finds the defendant willfully engaged in the act or practice." A prevailing defendant may recover fees if the plaintiff knew or should have known the action was frivolous and malicious. Section 75-105(e) confirms that a North Carolina citizen "may also bring an action in civil court to enforce the private rights of action established by federal law under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) and 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5)." Subscriber actions "shall be tried in the county where the plaintiff resides at the time of the commencement of the action" (§ 75-105(f)).

Limitations. Under § 75-16.2, "Any civil action brought under this Chapter to enforce the provisions thereof shall be barred unless commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues."

How North Carolina differs from federal law

North Carolina is stricter than federal law in several ways. It allows prerecorded-message calls only under enumerated exceptions. It places the burden of proving consent on the caller, requires age screening, and makes TSR violations privately enforceable. Its escalating damages can reach $5,000 per call for repeat violations within two years. Its equipment definition, like several other states', turns on number storage and prerecorded messages rather than random or sequential number generation, and the Business Court has held that human involvement in dialing does not take a system outside it.

North Carolina is more lenient than federal law in its small-business exemption from the registry prohibition, its longer internal opt-out processing windows, and its mistake defense, which bars private actions over violations that result from mistake where the solicitor maintains compliant written procedures or made the call under a statutory exception (§ 75-105(c)).

Notable case law

State ex rel. Jackson v. MV Realty PBC, LLC, 2026 NCBC 2 (N.C. Super. Ct. Jan. 16, 2026) State ex rel. Jackson v. MV Realty PBC, LLC (N.C. Bus. Ct. 2026) opinion. The Attorney General sued a real estate brokerage over a homeowner-benefit program marketed by telephone, alleging calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Registry and recorded-message calls. The Business Court granted the State summary judgment on its Telephone Solicitation Act claims and made three rulings.

1. Telephone solicitor. The court rejected the argument that the company was not a "telephone solicitor" because it paid homeowners rather than selling to them. It reasoned that the agreements "contemplated that services would be "purchased" by the homeowner," and it found that the company "meets the statutory definition of a "telephone solicitor.""
2. Equipment definition. The court addressed a cloud dialing platform that stored lead numbers and allowed agents to drop voicemail messages. It held that "the definition of "automatic dialing and recorded message player" set out in N.C.G.S § 75-101(2) does not identify the absence of human participation as a necessary factor in order for the definition to be met."
3. Consent. The court held that "a telephone solicitor bears the burden to demonstrate that consent existed at the time the phone calls at issue were made." Assertions that third-party lead generators had collected consent, supported only by a declaration lacking personal knowledge and by records for a small number of homeowners, did not create a genuine issue of material fact.

The court deferred ruling on civil penalties and restitution, so the order is interlocutory, and later proceedings or appellate review could affect it. The decision is a significant warning for sellers that rely on purchased leads: under § 75-103(e), the caller must produce the consent record.

Recent amendments

• No substantive amendment to Article 4 of Chapter 75 or to Article 33 of Chapter 66 was enacted from 2023 through the most recent official text reviewed. Session Law 2025-25, a General Statutes Commission technical bill approved June 26, 2025, appears in the § 75-102 history line. Its section 29(1) directs the Revisor of Statutes to replace "e-mail" with "email" throughout the statutes, which matches the wording in § 75-102(m). The change is stylistic.
• House Bill 936 (2025-2026 Session), "Robocall Solicitation Modifications," would amend §§ 75-100 through 75-105 and add new sections addressing robocalls and text messages. It passed the House in May 2025 and the Senate, as amended, in June 2026. After the House failed to concur, conferees were appointed on June 24, 2026, which was the last action shown on the official bill page when reviewed. The bill has not been enacted.
• The most recent enacted change of note predates the review window. Session Law 2019-188 (House Bill 724), effective December 1, 2019, extended the definitions to text communications and rewrote the caller ID provision in § 75-102(i).

Practical compliance checklist

• Scrub every North Carolina call and marketing text against the National Do Not Call Registry on the TSR schedule. Document any established business relationship within the 18-month and 3-month windows, or obtain an independent signed or e-signed form that contains the number.
• Keep consent records that can be produced on demand. Under § 75-103(e), the solicitor must prove permission, and the MV Realty decision shows that a vendor's assurances or bare data fields will not suffice.
• Adopt written do-not-call procedures, train employees, and monitor contractors. Compliance with § 75-102(d) is both required and the basis of the mistake defense in § 75-105(c).
• At the start of each call, identify the solicitor and the individual caller. Give a contact number or address on request, end the call promptly on objection, and process opt-outs well within the 30-business-day limit.
• Ask whether the person is under 18 and end the call if so, unless the calling list has been screened for minors or the campaign demonstrably does not target them.
• Do not use prerecorded or artificial-voice messages for sales calls or ringless voicemail to North Carolina subscribers unless a § 75-104(b) exception or documented prior express permission applies. For live-operator transfers to a recording, state the nature and length of the message and obtain approval first.
• Call only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Transmit accurate caller ID, and do not block or misrepresent the call's origin.
• Comply with TSR §§ 310.3-310.5, including the abandonment and disclosure rules, because North Carolina makes them enforceable under state law. Keep 24 months of records of each caller's identity.
• Determine whether you are a non-exempt "telephonic seller." If so, register with the Secretary of State at least 10 days before calling, renew annually, and bond any prize promotion valued at $500 or more.

References

• N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 75, Article 4 (Telephone Solicitations), North Carolina General Assembly: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_75/Article_4.pdf
• N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 66, Article 33 (Telephonic Seller Registration and Bond Requirement): https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_66/Article_33.pdf
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-1.1: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_75/GS_75-1.1.pdf
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-16: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_75/GS_75-16.pdf
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-16.1: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_75/GS_75-16.1.pdf
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-16.2: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_75/GS_75-16.2.pdf
• Session Law 2019-188 (House Bill 724): https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/PDF/2019-2020/SL2019-188.pdf
• Session Law 2025-25 (House Bill 40): https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/PDF/2025-2026/SL2025-25.pdf
• House Bill 936 (2025-2026 Session), bill history: https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H936
• House Bill 936, fifth edition: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/House/PDF/H936v5.pdf
• State ex rel. Jackson v. MV Realty PBC, LLC, 2026 NCBC 2: https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/documents/opinions/2026%20NCBC%202.pdf ; https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2026/01/16/state_ex_rel._jackson_v._mv_realty_pbc_llc.pdf
• North Carolina Department of Justice, telemarketing and Do Not Call information: https://ncdoj.gov/protecting-consumers/telemarketing/
• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, eCFR: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
• 16 C.F.R. Part 310 (Telemarketing Sales Rule), eCFR: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310
• 47 U.S.C. § 227, govinfo: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2023-title47/USCODE-2023-title47-chap5-subchapII-partI-sec227

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.