Thirty questions a business asks after a TCPA demand letter. Thirty short answers.
Each answer is under 450 words, cites the section of the statute it relies on, and links to the questions people ask next. Filter the list or jump to a category.
30 of 30 questions.
Is it real
Whether the letter is genuine and who can send one.
Is a TCPA demand letter real?Usually, yes. A genuine letter lists the exact calls or texts, cites 47 U.S.C. § 227, and comes from a sender you can find in a state corporate registry. Scams skip the detail and ask for untraceable payment.Can a company that is not a law firm send me a TCPA demand letter?Yes. A demand letter is a notice before a lawsuit, not a court filing, and no licence is needed to send one. The person called can pursue the claim themselves or through a company that refers unresolved matters to lawyers.How do I tell a fake TCPA demand letter from a real one?A fake threatens without listing any specific call, cites the statute wrongly or not at all, writes from a webmail address, gives hours to pay, and wants gift cards, crypto or a wire to a person. A real one is specific and traceable.
Money
What each call and text is worth under the statute.
How much are TCPA damages per call?$500 per call, and up to $1,500 per call if a court finds the violation was willful or knowing. The figure is per violation, not per matter, and one call can breach more than one rule.What are TCPA damages per text message?The same as a call: $500 per text, and up to $1,500 per text if willful or knowing. A text message is a call under the TCPA, and each message counts separately.Does my general liability insurance cover a TCPA claim?Usually not. Most commercial general liability policies written in the last two decades carry an exclusion that names the TCPA, and some courts treat the statutory damages as penalties that cannot be insured. Notify the broker anyway.
Deadlines
The date on the letter and the clock in the law.
What is the statute of limitations for a TCPA claim?Four years from each call or text, under the general federal limitation period in 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a). The deadline on a demand letter is a different clock: the sender’s, not the law’s.Can I get an extension on a TCPA demand letter deadline?Usually, if you ask in writing before the date, give a reason, and propose a new date. Suppress the listed numbers first; a request that arrives while the dialer is still running lands badly.How long after a demand letter does a TCPA lawsuit come?There is no fixed interval. After the deadline passes without a reply, the matter is usually referred to litigation counsel, who can file at any point within four years of the calls. Some file within weeks; some wait.
Vendors
When the calls were made by someone else.
Is my business liable if a vendor made the calls?Usually, yes. The FCC’s 2013 ruling in the Dish Network matter, applied by the courts since, holds that a seller can be liable for calls made on its behalf under ordinary agency principles. The vendor contract is about recovery, not defence.Can the lead generator be liable instead of me?As well as you, not instead of you. The person called can pursue everyone in the chain who made or benefited from the calls. Shifting the cost to the lead generator is a separate claim under your contract with them.We bought a list the vendor said was clean. Does that matter?Not as a defence. A vendor’s assurance is not a consent record or a scrub report. What matters is whether, for each listed number, you can produce written consent in the FCC’s form or a registry scrub within 31 days of the call.
Consent
What counts, what fails, how it is revoked.
What counts as prior express written consent under the TCPA?A written agreement, signed (electronic is fine), that clearly authorises the named seller to send marketing calls or texts using an autodialer or prerecorded voice to a specific number, with a statement that consent is not a condition of purchase.We had consent. Does that end the claim?Only if you can produce it, per number, in the form the FCC rules require, and it had not been revoked before the call. Consent you believe you had and consent you can show are different things, and only the second removes an item from a demand.Does a web form count as consent for marketing calls and texts?Only if the form carried a clear disclosure next to the submit action that the person agrees to automated marketing calls or texts from your named business at that number, with a statement that consent is not required to buy, and you kept the record of the submission.
Texts
Messages, STOP replies and the one-text claim.
Does the TCPA apply to text messages?Yes. A text message is a call for TCPA purposes. The same consent rules apply, and the same $500 per message, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3).It was one text. Can someone really sue over one text?Yes. Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b) a single unconsented automated marketing text is a complete violation worth $500 to $1,500. And the one text to this person is rarely the only text the campaign sent.How fast do I have to honour a STOP reply?Within ten business days under the FCC’s 2024 revocation rules, and the request can come by any reasonable means, not only the word STOP. Florida’s act gives fifteen days for texts. Good practice is immediate and automatic.
Lawyers
Whether you need one and what it costs.
Do I need a lawyer for a TCPA demand letter?Not to reply. A business can respond itself. But a business facing a claim should at least talk to one, and the value is highest where the dispute turns on consent records, vendor contracts, class exposure or personal liability.How much does a TCPA defence lawyer cost?It depends on the stage. Reviewing the letter and advising is the smallest cost; drafting or negotiating a response adds hours; defending a filed case through discovery is a different order of magnitude. Ask for an estimate per stage, in writing, before engaging.Will a lawyer cost more than the demand?For a letter listing a handful of calls that your own logs confirm, often yes, and a good lawyer will say so. For a letter that signals a wider campaign, names an officer, or where you hold real consent records, the fee is well spent.
Settling
Negotiation, releases and what paying means.
Should I settle a TCPA demand letter?Decide on three numbers: what the statute says the listed calls are worth, what the sender is asking, and what contesting costs. If the calls are yours and consent is thin, the demand is usually the lowest number with certainty. If the calls are not yours or consent is documented, dispute with evidence.Can I negotiate the amount in a TCPA demand letter?Usually. What moves the figure is evidence that removes calls from the count: consent for some numbers, calls not made by or for you, a reassigned-number check. A counter that is just a lower number with no reason rarely moves anything.If I pay a TCPA demand, am I admitting guilt?No. A settlement is a private release with no admission of liability. A judgment is a public finding against you. The release should say "no admission", name every listed call, and state the period it covers.
Ignoring
What follows silence, and who is on the hook.
What happens if I ignore a TCPA demand letter?The claim does not go away. The deadline passes, the demand-stage figure is withdrawn, the matter is referred to litigation counsel, who can file within four years, and every call to the listed numbers after the letter is a knowing violation worth up to $1,500.Can I be personally liable, or is it just the company?Possibly you. Courts in several circuits have held that an owner or officer who personally authorised, directed or participated in the calling can be liable alongside the company. The corporate form does not shield the person who made the decision to dial.Could one demand letter become a class action?Yes, and that is the mechanism behind most large TCPA cases. One recipient files, discovery produces the dialer logs and lead files, and those records show every other person the same campaign reached. The letter is one person; the campaign is the class.
State laws
Florida and the other state statutes that stack.
What is the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA)?Florida’s own telemarketing statute, Fla. Stat. § 501.059. It has a private right of action worth $500 to $1,500 per call or text, requires prior express written consent for calls made with an automated system, limits calling to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and caps calls on the same subject at three in 24 hours.Do FTSA damages stack on top of TCPA damages for the same call?Yes. The federal and Florida statutes create separate claims, each with its own $500 to $1,500 per call or text, so a single call to a Florida recipient can be counted under both. Demand letters to businesses that called Florida numbers usually show both figures.What hours can I make sales calls or send texts in Florida?8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the recipient’s local time under Fla. Stat. § 501.059, and no more than three calls on the same subject in any 24-hour period. The federal rule is 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Florida is an hour narrower.