Do Not Call Registry Violations: What Counts and What the Law Sets
What counts as a Do Not Call Registry violation, what does not, whether texts count, and the $500 to $1,500 per violation the TCPA sets.
Short answer: a Do Not Call Registry violation happens when a company calls or texts your registered number to sell you something two or more times in 12 months, without your permission and without an existing business relationship. Federal law allows up to $500 per violation for Do Not Call claims, and up to $1,500 if a court finds it willful or knowing.
The basic rule
Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2), a Registry claim generally needs all of these:
- Your number was on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days before the contacts.
- The contacts were telephone solicitations: calls or texts encouraging you to buy something, invest, or sign up for a service.
- You received more than one from the same company, or someone calling for it, within any 12-month period.
- You never gave that company written permission, and you had no established business relationship with it.
The Registry covers personal numbers, including cell phones. Registration never expires, but save a fresh confirmation email from donotcall.gov once a year. A run of confirmations proves you were registered the whole time.
What doesn’t count
- A single contact. The Registry claim needs at least two in 12 months. Other rules below have no minimum.
- Companies you’ve done business with. A purchase creates an established business relationship for 18 months, and an inquiry or application for 3 months. It ends as soon as you tell them to stop calling.
- Consent you gave. If you filled out a loan application or quote form that said you agree to calls and texts, expect the company to produce it.
- Non-sales calls. Political calls, surveys, charities calling for themselves, and debt collection calls are not telephone solicitations under this rule. Other rules may still apply.
Other TCPA rules
| Rule | What it covers | Minimum contacts |
|---|---|---|
| 64.1200(d) internal do-not-call | Company keeps contacting you after you said stop, has no do-not-call policy, or doesn’t identify itself | Usually 2 in 12 months |
| 227(b) prerecorded voice | Robot or prerecorded message to your cell without consent | None, every call |
| 64.1200(c)(1) quiet hours | Sales calls before 8 AM or after 9 PM your local time | Usually 2 in 12 months |
Courts generally let you recover once under the Registry rule and once under the prerecorded-voice rule for the same call. Whether you can also recover separately for the internal do-not-call rule on the same call is disputed.
What the law sets
- Up to $500 per violation as statutory damages for Do Not Call claims (47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5)); the prerecorded-voice rule sets $500 per call. You don’t have to prove you lost money.
- Up to $1,500 per violation if the court finds the company acted willfully or knowingly. Courts often look at contacts after you told the company to stop.
- Four years to bring a federal TCPA claim.
Example: your number has been on the Registry since 2020. A lender texts you twice in March. You reply STOP. It texts you three more times in April from different numbers.
- 2 texts before STOP × up to $500 = up to $1,000
- 3 texts after STOP × up to $1,500 = up to $4,500, if a court finds them willful or knowing
- Most the law sets for these counts: $5,500.
That is not a prediction. What anyone actually recovers depends on whether the company can be identified, whether it settles, and what a judge decides, and many claims end with no money.
Do texts count?
Courts do not all agree. The Ninth Circuit, which covers California and most of the West, has long held that a text message is a “call” under the TCPA, and California federal courts have applied that to Registry claims. In 2026 the Seventh Circuit, covering Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, ruled that texts are not “calls” for Registry claims. If you live there, other rules or state laws may still apply. This area is still developing, so check the current rule in your state.
What if I use my cell for work too?
The Registry protects residential subscribers. Many courts have treated a cell phone on the Registry as residential even with some business use, but a company can argue otherwise. How the number is listed publicly, whose name is on the bill, and how much you use it for business all matter.
Keeping a record
- Keep your spam. Screenshot it with the number, time and message in one frame.
- Get your Registry confirmation and your carrier’s call and text logs.
- If you reply STOP, screenshot it.
- Keep a contact log, company by company.
Our phone data guide covers steps 1 and 2. If you want the counting and company research done for you, that’s the Evidence Report.