Robocall Guide
TCPA Cell Phone Rules: The Consent, Autodialer, Prerecorded, and Text Rules
This is the rulebook. Seven rules govern automated calls and texts to a cell phone under the TCPA, and this page states each one with its source, in order. If you want the short answer to whether the call you got was illegal, that is on is it illegal to robocall a cell phone. Here, the rules themselves, each carrying a price of $500 to $1,500 per violation.
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Short answer
The TCPA’s cell phone rules, in short: (1) no autodialer or artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell without prior express consent; (2) for marketing, that consent must be written; (3) a text is a call; (4) consent belongs to the person, not the number; (5) consent can be revoked by any reasonable means; (6) exemptions are narrow and capped; (7) each violation is worth $500 to $1,500, with a four-year window to sue.
The seven rules
- Consent before any dialer or recorded call to a cell; written consent for marketing.
- Texts and ringless voicemails are calls.
- Consent follows the person; a reassigned number carries none.
- Revocation by any reasonable means; exemptions are narrow; $500 to $1,500 per violation.
Rule 1: No autodialer or recorded voice to a cell without prior express consent
Source: 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). The statute makes it unlawful to make any call using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a cellular service, without the prior express consent of the called party. Emergency calls are excepted. This is the foundation of every cell phone robocall claim, and it applies whether or not the call is marketing.
Rule 2: Marketing requires prior express written consent
Source: FCC rule 47 C.F.R. 64.1200(a)(2), effective October 2013. For any call or text that introduces an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing, the consent must be a written agreement, signed on paper or electronically, that clearly authorizes the company to deliver marketing to that number using an autodialer or prerecorded voice, and that states you are not required to sign as a condition of purchase. A pre-checked box, buried terms, or a number given for customer service does not meet the standard. Since 2025 the FCC has also required that consent be given to one identified seller at a time, ending the practice of one form authorizing hundreds of “marketing partners.”
Rule 3: A text message is a call
Source: FCC 2003 order, applied by federal courts since. Every rule on this page applies to SMS and MMS messages sent to a cell number. The FCC extended the same treatment to ringless voicemail in 2022 and to AI-generated voices in 2024. There is no lighter standard for texts.
Rule 4: Consent belongs to the person, not the number
Source: FCC 2015 order and the Reassigned Numbers Database (2021). Consent given by a prior holder of your number does not transfer to you. When a company calls a reassigned number, it is calling someone who never consented. The FCC created a database that callers can check to see whether a number has been reassigned, and a caller that checks it and receives a wrong answer has a safe harbor. A caller that does not check has none. This rule is why wrong-number cases are among the strongest under the statute, and why Lucas v. Synchrony Bank (No. 4:21-cv-00070, N.D. Ind.) produced a $2.6 million class settlement over prerecorded calls to reassigned and wrong numbers. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Rule 5: Consent can be revoked by any reasonable means
Source: FCC 2015 order, codified in a 2024 rule. You may revoke consent in any reasonable way, including by replying STOP, QUIT, END, or similar words to a text, by telling a live agent, or by email or letter. A company may not limit you to one designated method. Under the 2024 rule, the company must honor a revocation within ten business days, and may send one confirming text with no marketing content. Calls or texts after revocation are violations, and the clearest evidence of willfulness.
Rule 6: Exemptions are narrow and capped
Source: 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2) and FCC exemption orders. The FCC may exempt calls to cells that are free to the recipient, and it has done so for a short list: fraud and account alerts from financial institutions (no more than three per event), healthcare provider calls about appointments, prescriptions, and results (no more than one per day and three per week), package delivery notices, and a few others, each with an opt-out requirement. A 2015 statutory amendment permits calls to collect debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government, limited by the FCC to three per month per debt. Nothing else is exempt.
Rule 7: $500 to $1,500 per violation, four years to sue
Source: 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3) and 28 U.S.C. 1658. The person called may recover actual monetary loss or $500 for each violation, whichever is greater, and a court may increase the award to as much as three times that amount, $1,500, for a willful or knowing violation. Each call or text is a separate violation. Because the TCPA does not state its own limitations period, courts apply the general four-year federal limitations period, so calls older than four years generally fall outside a claim.
Applied together, these rules turn a call log into a claim. Save yours, note any date you revoked consent, and a free review with Max Morgan, Esq. (PA Bar #316096, The Weitz Firm, LLC) will tell you which rules the calls to your cell broke. No fee unless you recover.
Related: Is it illegal to robocall a cell phone? · Prior express written consent · Reassigned phone numbers and robocalls · How to revoke consent to calls
What kind of calls are you getting?
Each of these is a real, recoverable claim under the TCPA.
Wrong-number robocalls
Prerecorded or auto-dialed calls meant for someone else. You can have a claim even though you’re not a customer.
About wrong-number robocall claimsWrong-number debt collection
Auto-dialed collection calls for a debt that was never yours. Illegal twice over, and it pays.
About wrong-number debt collection claims“Stop calling me”
You told them to stop and the calls kept coming. Each one can be a separate violation.
About claims for calls after you said stopSpam text messages
Marketing texts you never agreed to count under the TCPA too. Screenshots are often all the proof you need.
About spam text message lawsuitsDo-Not-Call violations
Registered your number and the calls didn’t stop? Continued telemarketing may entitle you to damages.
About Do Not Call violation claimsPrerecorded cell calls
Robotic or artificial-voice calls to your cell without consent are a clear TCPA violation.
About prerecorded cell call claimsTCPA cell phone rules: FAQs
What is the difference between prior express consent and prior express written consent?
Prior express consent covers non-marketing automated calls and is met when you knowingly gave the company your cell number for that purpose. Prior express written consent is required for marketing calls and texts: a signed or electronic agreement that clearly authorizes automated marketing to your number and states you are not required to agree in order to buy.
Can I revoke consent by replying STOP or by telling a live agent?
Yes. The FCC rule allows revocation by any reasonable means, including STOP, QUIT, END, or similar words in reply to a text, telling an agent on a call, or sending an email or letter. A company cannot restrict you to a single method, and it must honor the revocation within ten business days.
Does the TCPA cell phone rule apply to a number reassigned to me?
Yes. Consent belongs to the person who gave it, not to the number. A prior holder’s consent does not transfer, so automated calls to your reassigned number about someone else’s account are violations. A caller that checked the FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database and got a wrong answer has a limited safe harbor; one that did not check has none.
Are there cell phone exemptions for banks and healthcare providers?
Yes, but narrow ones. Financial institutions may send fraud and account alerts, capped at three per event, and healthcare providers may send appointment, prescription, and result notices, capped at one per day and three per week. Each must be free to you, non-marketing, and include an opt-out. A call that becomes a sales pitch loses the exemption.
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