{"id":28453,"date":"2025-09-09T09:50:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/cold-calling-and-texting-could-cost-you\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:50:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:50:56","slug":"cold-calling-and-texting-could-cost-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/cold-calling-and-texting-could-cost-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold-Calling and Texting Could Cost You"},"content":{"rendered":"You\u2019ve been required for years to follow state and federal do-not-call laws. Senate Bill 140, passed during the most recent session of the Texas Legislature, changed those laws. Here\u2019s what\u2019s new and, just as important, what\u2019s not new but remains important to know.\nWhat Changed\nSB 140 expanded what counts as a \u201ctelephone call\u201d and \u201ctelephone solicitation\u201d when selling goods or services to include:\n\nText messages\nGraphic\/image messages\nOther types of electronic transmissions sent to a phone number.\n\nThis expansion now prohibits unsolicited text messages, graphic\/image messages, and other types of electronic transmissions to a phone or fax number (in addition to the unsolicited telephone calls) unless they meet certain criteria or exceptions under various statutes (Chapters 301, 302, 304 and 305 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code).\nSB 140 also expanded the application of deceptive trade practices laws. More types of telephone solicitation violations are now automatically considered \u201cfalse, misleading, or deceptive\u201d under the deceptive trade practices laws.\nThis makes penalties for telephone solicitation violations in Texas even costlier.\nConsumers can sue and collect damages for each violation, even if they\u2019ve already won damages for similar violations in the past.\nBig Picture, What Does the Law Say?\n\nTexas has several laws on \u201ctelephone solicitation.\u201d They cover calls, texts, graphic messages, images, and faxes to a phone number used to sell or promote services. Note: Various terms are used in the statutes, and each have slightly different meaning. For ease of reading, we used \u201ctelephone solicitation\u201d generically throughout.\nFederal rules still apply (e.g., national do-not-call, robocalls). The information provided here covers Texas laws only.\n\nIf You Are Soliciting Business Through Calls and Texts\n\nIdentify yourself right away: You should state your name, your company, and why you\u2019re calling.\nReach out only during allowed hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.\nDon\u2019t hide your caller ID or pretend to be someone else.\nCheck the Texas No-Call List at least quarterly and keep proof you checked. Don\u2019t reach out to listed numbers unless an exception applies.\nKnow that texts count as calls. Same rules apply.\nAvoid autodialers\/robotexting for cold outreach. Many exemptions do not apply if you use them.\nIf anyone says, \u201cdo not call or text,\u201d stop and keep a do-not-call\/text list.\n\nActions to Consider\n\nMaintain written calling\/texting procedures, especially regarding making unsolicited sales calls\/texts and other solicitations (how you scrub lists, hours, caller ID, do-not-call handling).\nScrub against the Texas No-Call List regularly (it updates January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1) and document the date you scrubbed. Find more information about the Texas No-Call List here.\nKeep an internal do-not-call list and honor it immediately.\nDon\u2019t use autodialers or mass-text tools for cold outreach.\nTrain everyone to open with identity and purpose and to record opt-outs.\nIf you or your brokerage does high-volume calling, find Texas SOS registration and bond forms here. Talk to a private attorney about how these requirements apply to you.\nWhen in doubt, review your marketing program with a private attorney.\n\nTread Carefully with Exemptions\n\nThe statutory prohibitions on reaching out to numbers that have been added to the Texas No-Call List generally do not apply to:\n\nConsumers who asked you to contact them\nConsumers who contact you after receiving a solicitation or advertisement that makes all required federal and state law disclosures\nCurrent clients or recent clients, provided that the call or text is made within 12 months from the date that the relationship with such current or recent clients ended.\n\n\nRegistration with the Texas Secretary of State as a telephone solicitor may not be required under Chapter 302 if you only contact former or current clients and you have been operating under the same business name for at least two years.\n\nAdditional Obligations\nIf you regularly make sales calls\/texts, you may fall under a law that requires:\n\nRegistering with the Texas Secretary of State for each calling location (Telephone Solicitation Registration Statement or Form 3401, accessible on the Texas Secretary of State\u2019s website)\nPosting the certificate at the calling location\nQuarterly updates and annual renewal\nSecurity on file such as a surety bond, letter of credit, or CD.\n\nSpecial Carve-Out for Texas License Holders\nA Texas state licensee (like a real estate license holder) may be exempt from the Texas No-Call restrictions if all are true:\n\nYou do not use an autodialer\nThere is a face-to-face sales presentation before the solicitation is completed\nNo payment\/authorization happens until after that presentation\nThe consumer hasn\u2019t told you not to call.\n\nImportant: This exemption does not cover third-party callers working on your behalf.\nMobile Numbers and Charges\nIt is illegal to make a call to a mobile phone number for the purpose of making a sale of a good or service if the recipient might be charged for the call and has not given prior consent. (There is a similar prohibition that applies to a fax sent as a solicitation.)\nEnforcement and Risk\nThese laws are interpreted to protect consumers. Multiple agencies can enforce them.\nViolations can bring civil penalties, criminal penalties, and lawsuits under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).\nIf you unexpectedly and unintentionally call or text a no-call number, there is a narrow exception in Section 26.37(h)(2) of the Rules of the Texas Public Utilities Commission that may allow you to avoid a violation if you can prove that you had written compliance procedures in place, you checked the most current version of the list, and it was an isolated mistake.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve been required for years to follow state and federal do-not-call laws. Senate Bill 140, passed during the most recent session of the Texas Legislature, changed those laws. Here\u2019s what\u2019s new and, just as important, what\u2019s not new but remains important to know. What Changed SB 140 expanded what counts as a \u201ctelephone call\u201d and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}