Cold calling laws by state

The federal floor

Three federal sources govern a cold call to a consumer in the United States:

1. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the FCC rules under it. It restricts calls made with an automatic telephone dialing system or a prerecorded or artificial voice and requires consent for those calls to cell phones. Section 227 gives consumers a private right of action at $500 per violation, and a court may raise the award up to three times for willful or knowing violations. TCPA explained covers the details.
2. The Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), enforced by the FTC. Under 16 CFR 310.4, a telemarketer may not call a residence before 8am or after 9pm local time at the called person's location without prior consent. The rule also limits abandoned calls to 3 percent of calls answered by a person, measured per campaign or per 30-day period.
3. The National Do Not Call Registry. Sellers and telemarketers must scrub against the registry for every area code they call. The registry page explains the 31-day scrub cycle. The FTC announced on 08/26/2026 that from 10/01/2026 the first five area codes are free, each additional area code is $85 a year, and the cap for all area codes is $23,425.

The practical rule: a manually dialed, live-voice call to a number not on the registry, inside the hours window, is legal federally. Prerecorded voice, autodialed calls to mobiles and marketing texts need consent.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• 01/24/2025: the Eleventh Circuit vacated Part III.D of the FCC's 2023 order, the one-to-one consent rule. That rule would have limited each consent to one named seller. The older prior express written consent standard applies.
• Revocation: FCC order 24-24 adopted 02/15/2024 lets consumers revoke consent by any reasonable means and requires callers to honor revocation and do-not-call requests within a reasonable time not to exceed 10 business days. Those rules took effect 04/11/2025; the FCC has waived, until 01/31/2027, the part that makes one stop request cover a caller's unrelated robocalls and robotexts (DA 26-12). It also limits text senders to a one-time confirmation message. See consent revocation rules.
• 09/01/2025: Texas SB 140 took effect. The bill caption says it changes definitions and private rights of action for solicitation communications. Read the enrolled text before relying on its reach.
• 10/01/2026: the 2027 Do Not Call Registry fees took effect, as above.
• 10/18/2026: Pennsylvania Act 47 of 2026, signed 07/20/2026, takes effect 90 days later. It bars telephone solicitation on Sundays and outside 9am to 7pm, and it defines telephone solicitation to include calls, voicemail, ringless voicemail and text messages.

State rules that go beyond federal

Each row below was checked against the state source linked in the third column. States not listed here follow the federal floor on this page, which does not mean they have no law. Rules for texts sit in SMS marketing rules and 10DLC.

State	What it adds	Source
Florida	FTSA: prior express written consent for automated or recorded sales calls and texts; private action for the greater of actual damages or $500, up to three times if willful or knowing; a text recipient must first reply STOP, then the solicitor has 15 days. Telemarketing Act: no calls before 8am or after 8pm local time, no more than 3 solicitation calls per 24 hours on the same subject	Fla. Stat. 501.059, 501.616
Oklahoma	Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022: prior express written consent for automated or recorded sales calls; no calls before 8am or after 8pm local time; no more than 3 calls per 24 hours on the same subject; private action for the greater of actual damages or $500, up to three times if willful or knowing	15 O.S. 775C.4, 775C.6
Texas	State no-call list built from consumer requests plus the Texas part of the national registry, published quarterly; calls barred 60 days after a number appears on the list. Solicitor registration with a $10,000 security. Hours: 9am to 9pm weekdays and Saturday, noon to 9pm Sunday. Civil action for the greater of $500 or actual damages, up to $1,500 or three times actual damages if knowing or intentional; attorney general penalty up to $1,000 per violation, $3,000 if willful or knowing	B&C ch. 304, 302.107, 301.051, 305.053
Pennsylvania	From 10/18/2026: no solicitation on Sundays or outside 9am to 7pm; texts, voicemail and ringless voicemail covered; business and wireless lines covered as well as residential; stop words for text opt-out include stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel and unsubscribe. State do-not-call list issued quarterly by a list administrator	2026 Act 47
Washington	No calls before 8am or after 8pm local time; end the call within 10 seconds if asked; no calls to numbers on the federal registry; fine up to $1,000 per violation; a person aggrieved by repeated violations may sue for at least $1,000 per violation plus fees	RCW 80.36.390
Indiana	A state Do Not Call list exists under the Telephone Solicitation of Consumers Act (IC 24-4.7), run by the attorney general, where consumers register	Indiana AG
Louisiana	State Do Not Call listing for residential subscribers run by the Public Service Commission under Telephone Solicitation Relief Act, with solicitor registration fees	LPSC general order, R.S. 45:844.11 et seq.
Missouri	Attorney general runs a no-call database of residential numbers; solicitors may be charged for access; the Missouri part of any national list is added to it	RSMo 407.1101
Tennessee	Do-Not-Call / Do-Not-Text Register of residential landline and cell numbers kept by the Public Utility Commission; covers texts; exemptions include a business relationship in the previous 12 months	TPUC, T.C.A. 65-4-401 et seq.
Wyoming	No state-run registry. The law bars most calls to residential mobile or pager numbers enrolled on the Direct Marketing Association preference list for more than 60 days; enforced by the attorney general	Wyoming AG

Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Georgia also have telemarketing statutes. This page leaves them out until each is checked against the statute text.

The single policy that clears all of it

• Scrub against the national registry and every state list where you call, every 31 days or sooner.
• Call 9am to 7pm in the prospect's time zone, Monday through Saturday. That clears Florida, Oklahoma, Washington, Texas and the Pennsylvania rule effective 10/18/2026.
• Maximum three attempts to a number in 24 hours on the same subject.
• Manual or human-initiated dialing only. No prerecorded or AI voice without written consent.
• No marketing texts without prior express written consent that names your company. Honor any stop request at once, and within 10 business days at the outside.
• Keep an internal do-not-call list permanently and record how each consent was obtained.
• Announce recording on every call.

For the operating side, see the cold calling prospecting guide. The compliance hub lists every rule page.

Penalty exposure

Private TCPA suits are the main risk. At $500 per call, a dialer that made 10,000 non-compliant calls faces $5,000,000 before any trebling. The FTC's civil penalty ceiling for rule violations under section 5(m)(1)(A) of the FTC Act is $53,088 per violation as of the 01/17/2025 adjustment. State penalties vary: Texas allows up to $1,000 per violation in an attorney general action and $3,000 if willful or knowing, and Washington sets a fine up to $1,000. Telemarketing penalties compares them.

This page is a plain-English summary with sources, not legal advice. Last reviewed 10/10/2026.

Next step

To see how many reachable owners sit in the area you plan to call, start with the homeowner counts, then request counts for your geography.

Questions people ask

Q01Did the one-to-one consent rule take effect?

No. The Eleventh Circuit vacated that part of the FCC's 2023 order in an opinion filed 01/24/2025. The prior express written consent standard still governs marketing texts and prerecorded calls.

Q02Which states run their own do-not-call lists?

Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee each have a statute that creates a state list. Wyoming points consumers to a Direct Marketing Association preference service, and Washington bars calls to the federal registry. Scrub each list you call into.

Q03Do state calling rules reach calls to businesses?

It depends on the state. Washington's statute excludes business-to-business contacts. Pennsylvania's amended act covers business and wireless subscribers from 10/18/2026, so its hours and list apply to calls to companies there. The TCPA's autodialer and prerecorded rules apply to any cell phone, including an owner's mobile.

Q04What changes in Pennsylvania on 10/18/2026?

Act 47 of 2026 was signed 07/20/2026 and takes effect in 90 days. Telephone solicitation is barred on Sundays and outside 9am to 7pm, and the term now covers texts, voicemail and ringless voicemail, with stop-word opt-outs.

Q05How many times can I call a Florida number in one day?

Florida Statute 501.616 bars more than three commercial solicitation calls from any number to one person in 24 hours on the same subject, and bars calls before 8am or after 8pm local time. Oklahoma has the same cap.

Sources

1. Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR 310.4 (hours, abandonment rate)law.cornell.edu
2. TCPA, 47 U.S.C. 227law.cornell.edu
3. FCC 24-24 Report and Order (consent revocation, 10 business days)docs.fcc.gov
4. FCC DA 26-12 (revocation rules effective 04/11/2025; revoke-all waiver to 01/31/2027)docs.fcc.gov
5. Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, 11th Cir. (filed 01/24/2025) (vacated one-to-one consent)media.ca11.uscourts.gov
6. FTC: 2027 telemarketer fees for the National Do Not Call Registry (08/26/2026)ftc.gov
7. 16 CFR 1.98, FTC civil penalty adjustmentslaw.cornell.edu
8. Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. 501.059leg.state.fl.us
9. Florida Telemarketing Act, Fla. Stat. 501.616 (hours and call caps)leg.state.fl.us
10. Texas Bus. and Com. Code ch. 304 (no-call list 304.051, 304.052; attorney general penalties 304.252)tcss.legis.texas.gov
11. Texas Bus. and Com. Code ch. 305 (civil action 305.053)tcss.legis.texas.gov
12. Texas Bus. and Com. Code ch. 301 (solicitation hours 301.051)tcss.legis.texas.gov
13. Texas Bus. and Com. Code ch. 302 ($10,000 security 302.107)tcss.legis.texas.gov
14. Texas SB 140 (89R), bill history and effective datecapitol.texas.gov
15. Oklahoma Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022, 15 O.S. 775C.4 (hours, call cap)oscn.net
16. Oklahoma 15 O.S. 775C.6 (private action)oscn.net
17. Pennsylvania 2026 Act 47 (amends Telemarketer Registration Act)palegis.us
18. Indiana Attorney General: robocall and Do Not Call FAQin.gov
19. Louisiana Public Service Commission Do Not Call general orderlpsc.louisiana.gov
20. Missouri RSMo 407.1101, no-call databaserevisor.mo.gov
21. Tennessee Public Utility Commission: Do Not Call/Text programtn.gov
22. Wyoming Attorney General: telephone solicitationattorneygeneral.wyo.gov
23. Washington RCW 80.36.390app.leg.wa.gov