Calls & text messages
What Is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the principal federal law limiting robocalls, robotexts, telemarketing calls, and junk faxes.
Topic 01
Consent and Revocation
Consent is the first question in almost every Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) dispute. The statute requires "prior express consent" to autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires more for marketing: prior express written consent, meaning a signed agreement (electronic signatures count) with a clear disclosure and a statement that consent is not a condition of purchase.
Revocation of consent is the other half. A consumer can revoke consent by any reasonable means. Under FCC rules in effect since April 11, 2025, replies like "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe" are per se valid, and callers must honor requests within 10 business days.
What changed recently
- One-to-one consent is gone. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated the rule in January 2025, and the FCC withdrew the rule effective August 29, 2025.
- Written consent questioned. In February 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control of Texas that the statute requires only prior express consent for prerecorded calls.
- New revocation order. The FCC published FCC 26-67 in its October 1, 2026. Once in effect, callers may designate a sole method of opting out so long as it is clearly disclosed, and an opt-out from marketing will apply to all the caller's marketing. It will take effect 30 days after its appearance in the Federal Register, which had not occurred as of October 14, 2026.
The bottom line
Get written consent for marketing, keep proof, and honor every reasonable opt-out quickly. The articles in this section keep you up to date on each development as it happens.
The maintained guide
Consent Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Consent decides most Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases. The questions are always the same. What kind of consent did the call need?
Guides 2
Consent & revocation
Compliance Guide: Calls and Texts
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance is not one rule.
Analysis and news 13
Case analysis · Consent & revocation
Tom v. Delancey Street: Replying "Yes" to a Text Is Consent, Even If Feigned
In Tom v. Delancey Street Group LLC, Case No. 2:26-cv-01150-JMA-ST (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, 2026), Judge Joan M. Azrack dismissed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) do-not-call suit with prejudice.
Case analysis · Consent & revocation
Reyes v. Lincoln Automotive Financial Services: You Can't Revoke Consent You Signed Into a Contract
Most courts agree you can revoke your consent to robocalls whenever you want. But what if that consent was part of a contract?
Case analysis · Consent & revocation
Physicians Healthsource v. A-S Medication Solutions: Fax Consent Must Be Explicit and Does Not Transfer With a Customer List
A company that bought part of a business, including its customer fax list, and then faxed an advertisement to more than 11,000 numbers without permission or an opt-out notice was liable for nearly $6 million.
Case analysis · Calls & text messages
Moskowitz v. American Savings Bank: Texting a Short Code Consents to the Reply, and Rule 41(d) Costs Exclude Attorney's Fees
In Moskowitz v. American Savings Bank, F.S.B., 37 F.4th 538 (9th Cir. 2022), the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a bank sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) over automated replies to text messages, and then reversed an award of attorney's fees that the district court had treated as "costs" under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(d).
Case analysis · Calls & text messages
Warciak v. Subway: A Brand Is Not Liable for a Carrier's Promotional Text Without Agency
A T-Mobile customer who received a "T-Mobile Tuesdays" text offering a free Subway sandwich could not hold Subway liable under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Analysis · Consent & revocation
Steaks, Burgers and an Ignored Opt-Out: Omaha Steaks Hit With a TCPA Class Action
I love my steaks. I do not love getting texted about one after I said no thanks.
Analysis · State telemarketing laws
Operation Stop Scam Calls: What the 2023 Federal and State Sweep Targeted
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and law enforcement partners nationwide, including the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, announced "Operation Stop Scam Calls," a joint crackdown on illegal robocalls.
Analysis · Litigation & decisions
Live Transfers and "Major Medical" Claims: Superseding Indictment Against a Pennsylvania Health Plan Call Center
The bottom line: federal prosecutors charged four executives and two companies that allegedly bought live-transfer calls from lead generators and then sold limited benefit and discount plans by falsely presenting them as comprehensive health insurance.
Case analysis · Consent & revocation
Gorss Motels v. Lands' End: Franchise Agreements Can Supply Prior Express Permission for Supplier Fax Ads
A motel franchisee that agreed that its franchisor and affiliates might provide purchasing assistance and supplied its fax number repeatedly gave prior express permission to receive fax advertisements from an approved supplier.
Analysis · Consent & revocation
Albertsons Sued Over Safeway Texts That Allegedly Continued After Confirmed STOP Requests
Four consumers have filed a proposed class action against Albertsons Companies, Inc. alleging that it continued sending marketing texts after they opted out, including after it sent confirmations that they would not receive any more messages.
Case analysis · Litigation & decisions
A Check in the Mail Doesn't End a Junk Fax Case: Bais Yaakov v. ACT
ACT, the nonprofit behind the college admissions test, sent three one-page faxes to a small private high school in 2012.
Analysis · Consent & revocation
$50 a Text: USA Clinics Group Settles Claims Over Messages Sent After Opt-Outs
Quick quiz. You get a text from "USA Vein Clinics." Who sent it?
Analysis · Consent & revocation
"GET YOUR FAST FREE QUOTE": How Response Tree's Consent Farms Ended in a Telemarketing Ban
I've said it before and I'll say it again, because it's that important. Where your leads come from matters more than almost anything else in this business.
Case law 2
Eleventh Circuit · 2025
Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC (11th Cir. 2025)
The Eleventh Circuit vacated the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) "one-to-one consent" rule before it took effect.
D.C. Circuit · 2018
ACA International v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 2018)
The D.C. Circuit reviewed a 2015 order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).