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 03
Do Not Call
The National Do Not Call Registry allows consumers to opt out of most telemarketing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) administers it. Two rule sets enforce it: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
The core rules
- No telephone solicitations to registered numbers, unless the caller has an established business relationship or the consumer's written permission.
- Registrations do not expire. The FCC rule says they are "honored indefinitely."
- Scrub at least every 31 days. Both of the safe harbors require a current version of the registry no more than 31 days old.
- Keep an internal list. Sellers must record company-specific do-not-call requests, honor them within 10 business days, and honor them for five years.
- Calling hours. No solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., the called party's local time.
Political, charitable, survey, and debt collection calls are outside the registry's sales-call rule, though other rules may apply.
Who can sue
A consumer who receives more than one telephone call in 12 months from or for the same entity in violation of the rules can sue for up to $500 per violation, trebled for willful or knowing violations. In July 2026 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that texts are not "telephone calls" for the purposes of such suits. The FCC's rule covers texts, and many state laws do as well.
The bottom line
Do-not-call compliance rewards routine: written procedures, training, scrubbing, and records. Those are the elements of the safe harbor. The articles in this section cover enforcement, case law, and rule changes.
The maintained guide
Do Not Call Rules
The National Do Not Call Registry is the best-known part of United States telemarketing law. It sits on top of two rule sets.
Guides 4
Consent & revocation
Compliance Guide: Calls and Texts
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance is not one rule.
Do Not Call
Unwanted Calls and Texts: What You Can Do
You have real rights against unwanted robocalls, robotexts, and telemarketing.
State telemarketing laws
State Telemarketing Laws
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) establishes a federal floor, not a ceiling. States can add their own rules, and many have.
Analysis and news 11
Case analysis · Do Not Call
Krakauer v. Dish Network: Fourth Circuit Affirms $61 Million Do Not Call Class Judgment and Vicarious Liability for a Retailer's Calls
A satellite television company that controlled its telemarketing retailer, knew about its violations and kept profiting was liable for the retailer's calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, and the trial court properly trebled the damages.
Case analysis · Litigation & decisions
Jones v. Royal Administration Services: When a Telemarketer Sells for Many Brands, Who's Liable?
Extended warranty sellers often rely on outside call centers that pitch products from lots of companies.
Analysis · Do Not Call
Two Calls, One Medicare Pitch: Senior Healthcare Advisors Sued Under the TCPA's Do Not Call Rules
An Oregon consumer filed a putative class action on July 12, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against insurance brokerage Senior Healthcare Advisors LLC, alleging telemarketing calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Analysis · Litigation & decisions
Shut Down, Then Back in Business Within Weeks: The FTC's Higher Goals Marketing Copycat Case
You know what takes guts? Getting shut down by a federal court and then opening basically the same business a few weeks later.
Analysis · Do Not Call
SL Finance: Student Loan "Forgiveness," Advance Fees and Unpaid Do Not Call Registry Fees
In May 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtained a temporary restraining order against SL Finance LLC and its owners, Michael Castillo and Christian Castillo.
Analysis · Litigation & decisions
Record Month: 255 TCPA Class Actions Filed in April 2026
Plaintiffs filed 330 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases in April 2026, including a record 255 class actions, according to WebRecon data reported by TCPAWorld.
Analysis · Litigation & decisions
Jamaican Lottery Scam Manager Pleads Guilty: Fake Prizes, Fake Police and Victims Over 80
The bottom line: a Jamaican national who managed a lottery scam that called elderly victims about fake cash prizes, and posed as law enforcement in other calls, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in Pittsburgh.
Analysis · Calls & text messages
58 Texts, Two Letters and a Flagger on the Job: Fender Sued Over Marketing Texts
I love guitars. I really do. But I don't love getting 58 texts about them from a company I've never bought anything from.
Case analysis · Litigation & decisions
"Rachel From Cardholder Services" and the Payment Processor That Paid for Everything
Remember "Rachel from Cardholder Services"? Those robocalls promising to lower your credit card interest rate?
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.
Analysis · Do Not Call
"Bumper to Bumper" Lies: The FTC Bans the Car Warranty Callers at American Vehicle Protection
You've gotten the call. I've gotten the call. Your grandmother has definitely gotten the call.