TCPA Explained: Robocall, Text, and Telemarketing Law (2026)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, restricts specified calls made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice, certain residential prerecorded-voice calls, telephone solicitations and unsolicited fax advertisements. The technology used, the number or line called, the message content, consent, exemptions and the particular private-action provision all affect whether a violation and statutory damages are available.

This guide covers the federal TCPA, its FCC implementing rules at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, and the FTC-run National Do Not Call Registry. It does not cover state wiretap or eavesdropping statutes, which set the separate consent rules for recording a call already in progress; for that state-by-state map, see recordinglaw.com's US recording laws by state guide.

What the TCPA Regulates (47 U.S.C. § 227)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 227. Section 227(b)(1) addresses specified autodialed or artificial- or prerecorded-voice calls to protected numbers, residential artificial- or prerecorded-voice calls, unsolicited fax advertisements, and autodialing that engages multiple business lines simultaneously. Each branch has its own conditions and exceptions. Section 227(c) separately directs the FCC to protect residential subscribers through telephone-solicitation rules.

The definition of "automatic telephone dialing system" has driven significant litigation. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court held that equipment qualifies as an autodialer under § 227(a)(1) only if it can store or produce phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator, narrowing the TCPA's reach compared to how some lower courts had read the term. Calls or texts sent from a fixed, targeted list of numbers, without random or sequential number generation, may fall outside the autodialer prohibition, though they can still violate the TCPA's separate rules for prerecorded or artificial voice messages, unsolicited faxes, and telemarketing generally.

Prior Express Consent vs. Prior Express Written Consent

The applicable consent standard depends on the technology, content and destination. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(1)-(3), specified autodialed or artificial- or prerecorded-voice calls to wireless and other protected numbers generally require prior express consent unless an exception applies; advertising or telemarketing calls using those technologies generally require prior express written consent. Residential artificial- or prerecorded-voice calls have separate content-based rules, numerical limits and exemptions. Section 64.1200(f)(9) defines written consent as a signed agreement authorizing the seller to deliver advertising or telemarketing messages using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to the stated number, with the required disclosure that signing is not a purchase condition.

The Eleventh Circuit vacated Part III.D of the FCC's 2023 Order on January 24, 2025. Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC, 127 F.4th 303 (11th Cir. 2025), held that both the one-to-one-consent restriction and the logically-and-topically-related restriction conflicted with the ordinary statutory meaning of prior express consent. The court did not vacate the existing requirement for prior express written consent for covered advertising or telemarketing robocalls.

Consent can be revoked. Section 64.1200(a)(10) recognizes reasonable revocation methods and requires covered requests to be honored within a reasonable time not exceeding 10 business days. FCC DA 26-12 waives through January 31, 2027 only the requirement to treat a revocation made in response to one type of informational message as applying to all future robocalls and robotexts from that caller on unrelated matters. The FCC expressly said the waiver does not alter other prior revocation rules or rulings.

Why Businesses Say "This Call May Be Recorded" (and Why That Is Not Really a TCPA Rule)

Businesses give the "this call may be recorded for quality assurance" disclosure mainly to satisfy state recording-consent law, not the TCPA. The TCPA in 47 U.S.C. § 227 governs whether a business may contact you by autodialer, prerecorded voice, or text in the first place; it does not set the rule for whether a call already in progress may be recorded. Recording consent is governed by a separate body of law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d), a private person may intercept a communication when the person is a party or one party has given prior consent, unless the interception is for the purpose of committing a criminal or tortious act in violation of federal or state law. State statutes may impose stricter consent requirements. A recording notice should not be treated as automatically satisfying every applicable consent requirement; consult the relevant state recording guide.

The TCPA and its FCC rules do impose their own, separate disclosure duties that are easy to confuse with the recording notice. A prerecorded telemarketing message must identify the business on whose behalf the call is made and provide a number the recipient can call to make a do-not-call request, and it must offer an automated, interactive opt-out mechanism, generally within two seconds of the required identification, under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(b). None of these federal disclosure rules is the source of the "this call may be recorded" notice; they run alongside it and answer a different legal question. For the state-by-state rules on whether a call can be recorded, and whether one party or all parties must agree, see recordinglaw.com's US recording laws by state guide.

The National Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry, at donotcall.gov, lets a consumer register a phone number to stop most telemarketing sales calls. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created and maintains the registry under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310. The FCC enforces parallel do-not-call rules under the TCPA, including 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c). The private action in 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) applies when a person receives more than one telephone call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity in violation of regulations prescribed under section 227(c). That repetition and same-entity threshold is separate from the private action in section 227(b)(3). A number stays on the registry indefinitely once added, and telemarketers must check the registry no more than 31 days before calling a residential or wireless number.

Registration does not stop every call. The FTC exempts calls from political organizations and candidates, calls from charities calling on their own behalf (though a specific do-not-call request to that charity must still be honored), survey and market-research calls that are not selling anything, and calls from a company with which the consumer has an existing business relationship, generally within 18 months of a last purchase, payment, or delivery, or within 3 months of an inquiry or application. Debt-collection calls and purely informational calls, such as appointment reminders or fraud alerts, are also treated differently than telemarketing sales calls under the FCC's rules.

TCPA Damages: A Quick Look

Section 227(b)(3) authorizes an action for actual monetary loss or $500 for each violation of section 227(b) or its implementing regulations, whichever is greater; a court may increase the award up to threefold for a willful or knowing violation. Section 227(c)(5) provides a separate action and the same actual-loss-or-$500 measure, with discretionary trebling for a willful or knowing violation, only after the claimant received more than one offending telephone call within 12 months by or on behalf of the same entity. The statute provides potential remedies, not an automatic $500 or $1,500 recovery for every unwanted contact. Because a single automated campaign can generate thousands of individual calls or texts, each counted separately, TCPA claims are one of the more active areas of federal class-action litigation. For real recent settlement examples, how courts count "per violation," and the current status of FCC consent rulemaking, see TCPA damages and lawsuits.

Recognizing a Possible TCPA Violation and Getting Help

Common signs of a possible TCPA violation include a prerecorded or robotic-sounding message on a call never agreed to; repeated telemarketing calls after a number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry for more than 31 days; marketing texts that continue after a consumer replied STOP; and autodialed calls or texts to a cell number never given to that business. None of these facts alone guarantees a violation occurred, since exceptions and consent history matter, but they are the pattern most TCPA claims involve.

A consumer who suspects a violation can document it by saving caller ID information, call and text logs, voicemails or screenshots, and the date and time of each contact, and by noting whether the number was on the Do Not Call Registry and for how long. Complaints can be filed with the FCC at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov, with the FTC at donotcall.gov/report.html or reportfraud.ftc.gov, and with a state attorney general's consumer protection office. A licensed attorney can review call records and consent history, calculate potential statutory damages, and advise whether the facts support an individual claim or fit an existing class action. This article provides general information only and does not predict the outcome of any specific situation.

Disclaimer

This article explains the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act as general legal information current as of mid-2026. It does not cover state wiretap or recording-consent statutes in detail, which are addressed in recordinglaw.com's state-by-state recording law guides, and it is not legal advice. TCPA cases turn on specific facts, including exactly what consent was given and when, so consult a licensed attorney in your state before making decisions based on a possible violation.

Related articles

• TCPA damages and lawsuits: statutory penalties and recent settlements
• US recording laws by state

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Last updated: July 2026. Statutes and FCC rules cited reflect their status as of this date. TCPA rulemaking is active, so confirm current requirements before relying on them.