TCPA text message rules: when a spam text is worth money

Why a text counts as a call

When most people picture the TCPA, they picture a ringing phone and a recorded voice. But the law’s protections were written broadly, and courts have long held that a text message to your cell phone is the legal equivalent of a call. The reasoning is straightforward: a text uses the same number, reaches the same device, and intrudes the same way. The question is not whether texts are covered, since they are, but whether the company had your permission to send them.

The whole framework you would apply to a robocall applies to a marketing text: Was it sent with an automated system? Did the company have your consent? Did you tell them to stop?

Marketing texts need written consent

Not every text breaks the law. A confirmation code, a fraud alert you signed up for, or a reply to a message you started is a different animal from an unsolicited sales blast. The texts that most often cross the line are marketing texts, the promotions, offers, and ads sent without the right permission.

For promotional texts to your cell, a company generally needs prior express written consent. That is a higher bar than a casual okay.

STOP means stop

Even if you once agreed to texts, you can take that agreement back. Replying STOP is the most common way, but the law lets you revoke consent in any reasonable manner. Once you have clearly asked a company to quit texting you, it is supposed to honor that, and quickly.

• A text that arrives after you said STOP can be its own violation.
• You do not have to use a magic word. “Stop,” “unsubscribe,” “quit,” or a plain “don’t text me again” can all work.
• Each unwanted text that follows your request stacks on top of the last.

A single confirmation that you have been unsubscribed is generally fine. A stream of marketing that keeps coming after you opted out is not.

Texts to wrong and recycled numbers

You do not have to be a customer to have a claim. A huge share of spam-text complaints come from people who never had any relationship with the company at all:

• The texts are meant for someone else, a wrong number.
• Your number used to belong to someone who may have signed up, and the company never updated its list.
• A marketer bought or scraped your number and texted you out of the blue.

In all of these, you never gave consent, so the company generally had no right to text you with an automated system, customer or not.

Which texts usually aren’t a problem

Some texts generally do not give rise to a claim, and knowing them helps you spot the ones that do. The rules target unwanted automated marketing, not every message a business ever sends you.

• A one-time verification code or login security text you asked for.
• A reply in a conversation you started, like answering a question you texted in.
• A transactional alert you signed up for, such as a shipping or fraud notice.
• A single confirmation that your STOP request was received.

The line is consent and purpose. A text you invited, for the reason you invited it, is usually fine. Unsolicited marketing blasts, or messages that keep coming after you opted out, are where claims live.

What to save, and what it’s worth

Spam texts come with their own built-in evidence, the message itself. Hold onto it:

• Screenshots showing the sender’s number, the message text, and the date and time.
• The full thread, including any STOP request you sent and anything that came after.
• Notes on how many texts arrived and over what period.

Because the value of each text is fixed by law, the claim grows with the count: number of illegal texts multiplied by $500 to $1,500 each. A long-running campaign can be worth real money. A free review under Max Morgan, Esq. can tell you whether the texts you got crossed the line, and the work is on contingency, so there is no fee unless you recover. Every case is different and results vary, but the structure is simple: the texts stack.

Related: Spam text message lawsuit · TCPA cell phone rules · Calls after you said stop · Do I qualify?