Mini-TCPA (State Laws)
States rebuilt TCPA liability with broader definitions and their own damages. Schedule and consent to the strictest state you text into.
After Facebook v. Duguid narrowed the federal autodialer definition, several states passed their own telemarketing statutes to restore — and expand — liability. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act (2021, amended 2023) led; Oklahoma, Washington, Maryland, and others followed with their own variants.
Common features: broader definitions of automated sending equipment, stricter calling-hour windows (Florida: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.), per-violation statutory damages ($500, trebled for willful violations), and private rights of action that make class actions viable in state court.
For multistate SMS programs the practical rule is to comply with the strictest applicable state: written consent for marketing, conservative send windows, and recipient-state awareness in campaign scheduling.
Frequently asked questions
Related glossary terms
The FTSA is Florida's telemarketing statute covering automated marketing calls and texts to Florida numbers, with statutory damages of $500-$1,500 per violation and a broader equipment definition than the federal TCPA.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a US federal law (47 U.S.C. § 227) that restricts marketing calls and texts to mobile phones, with statutory damages of $500–$1,500 per violation.
Quiet hours are the legally protected windows when telemarketing messages may not be sent: federally before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. recipient local time, with stricter state variants like Florida's 8 a.m.-8 p.m.