TCPA Rules for Texting Tenants, Owners and Leads in 2026

A rent reminder or maintenance update sent to a tenant who gave you their number needs prior express consent. A marketing text or automated call to a prospective owner or seller needs prior express written consent, and a cold call to an owner whose number is on the National Do Not Call Registry is barred unless an exception applies.¹ Since April 11, 2025, an opt-out made by any reasonable means must be honored within 10 business days, and the FCC voted on September 30, 2026 to loosen parts of that rule once a new order takes effect.²³

This guide covers the federal rules as they stand on October 7, 2026. For the wider set of federal rules that touch rental operations, see /federal.

The two rulebooks: the TCPA statute and the FCC's regulation

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is 47 U.S.C. § 227. Its core ban says no one may make a call, other than for emergency purposes or with the called party's prior express consent, using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone number.⁴ The statute lets a person sue for actual losses or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and a court may triple that amount if the violation was willful or knowing.⁴ A separate private right of action covers do-not-call violations when a person receives more than one call within any 12-month period from the same entity, with damages of up to $500 per violation.⁴

The FCC writes the detailed rules at 47 CFR § 64.1200. That section holds the consent standards, the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. calling window, the Do Not Call Registry rules, the internal do-not-call list requirements and the revocation rules.¹ It also applies the do-not-call rules to telephone solicitations and telemarketing calls or text messages sent to wireless numbers.¹

Texts count. The FCC's revocation rules speak of "calls or text messages," and the Supreme Court in Facebook v. Duguid noted that neither side disputed that the TCPA's ban extends to text messages and assumed it does.¹⁵

Prior express consent vs. prior express written consent

The FCC rule draws a line based on content, not on who the recipient is.

Paragraph (a)(2) of the rule requires prior express written consent for any call that "includes or introduces an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing" using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice.¹ Telemarketing means a call or message made to encourage the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services.¹ That definition reaches a pitch to an owner to hire you, a text urging a homeowner to list, and an upsell to a resident.

Prior express written consent is a signed written agreement that names the phone number and clearly authorizes the seller to deliver marketing calls using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice. It must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the person is not required to sign as a condition of buying any property, goods or services. An electronic signature counts if it is valid under federal law or state contract law.¹

The wireless industry's guidelines follow the same split. CTIA describes three tiers: conversational messages, where the consumer texts first and the business replies; informational messages such as appointment reminders and alerts, which need the consumer's express consent; and promotional messages, where the consumer should agree in writing. CTIA also warns that adding a call to action, such as a coupon code, to an informational text may move it into the promotional category.⁶

A rent reminder that ends with "Ask us about our renters insurance partner" is no longer purely informational.

What counts as an autodialer after Facebook v. Duguid

On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court held in Facebook v. Duguid that to qualify as an automatic telephone dialing system, a device must have the capacity either to store or to produce a phone number using a random or sequential number generator.⁵ The Court rejected a reading that would cover any equipment that stores and dials numbers, noting that such a reading would capture virtually all modern cell phones.⁵ The FCC's rule now defines an autodialer in the same words as the statute.¹

Most texting tools that send to numbers you collected do not use a random or sequential number generator. That narrows the autodialer rule but does not make texting risk free, for four reasons.

1. Artificial and prerecorded voice is a separate trigger. The consent rules still apply to any call using an artificial or prerecorded voice, whatever the dialing equipment. In February 2024 the FCC confirmed that the TCPA's "artificial or prerecorded voice" restriction covers current AI technologies that generate human voices.⁷ An AI phone agent that places outbound calls is inside the rule.
2. Do Not Call rules do not depend on equipment. The registry and internal list rules apply to telephone solicitations however they are dialed.¹
3. State laws use broader definitions. Florida and Oklahoma regulate an "automated system for the selection and dialing" (Florida) or "selection or dialing" (Oklahoma) of numbers, which is not the federal test.⁸⁹
4. Carriers apply their own consent standards. Carrier and CTIA rules on opt-in apply to business texting regardless of how the TCPA defines an autodialer.⁶

The one-to-one consent rule never took effect

In a 2023 order, the FCC adopted a rule that would have required consent to be given to one seller at a time, and limited calls to subjects "logically and topically associated" with the interaction that prompted the consent.¹⁰

On January 24, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted the Insurance Marketing Coalition's petition, held that the FCC exceeded its authority under the TCPA, and vacated that part of the 2023 order.¹⁰ The court explained that under its own case law, one-to-one consent is not required.¹⁰ The current text of 47 CFR § 64.1200(f)(9) contains the long-standing definition of prior express written consent, without a one-to-one requirement.¹

For agents and managers who buy owner or seller leads, the consent must still clearly authorize your company, as the seller, to send marketing messages to that number.¹ CTIA also advises message senders not to use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold or shared, and to build their own.⁶

Revoking consent: the 2025 rule, the delay and the September 2026 order

What is in force now. The FCC's consent revocation rules at 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(10) and (11) took effect April 11, 2025.² Under them:

• A person may revoke consent, including written consent, by any reasonable method that clearly says they do not want more calls or texts.¹
• Replies of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" to a text, a key press or voice opt-out on a call, or use of a website or number you designate are reasonable per se. Other words count if a reasonable person would understand them as a request to stop.¹
• Revocation by other means, such as a voicemail or email, creates a rebuttable presumption that consent was revoked.¹
• You must honor the request within a reasonable time not to exceed 10 business days, and the current rule says you may not designate an exclusive means to revoke.¹
• One confirmation text is allowed if it has no marketing content. If it goes out within five minutes it is presumed to fall within consent.¹

What was delayed. The 2024 rule also said that once consent is revoked, the caller may not send additional robocalls and robotexts. The FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau granted waivers delaying this "revoke all" part, first to April 11, 2026 and then, in an order dated January 6, 2026, to January 31, 2027.³

What changed on September 30, 2026. The FCC adopted a Report and Order (FCC 26-67) on September 30, 2026 and released it October 1, 2026.³ Once effective, it will:

• Let a caller treat a revocation made in response to an informational robocall or robotext as covering only that category of informational messages, not every message the person agreed to receive.³
• Keep the rule that an opt-out in response to a telemarketing call or text revokes consent to all future telemarketing robocalls from that caller.³
• Let a caller designate one or more of the three per se methods (key press or voice opt-out, standard reply words, or a designated website or number) as the exclusive way to revoke, as long as the method is clearly disclosed on each call or text. Disclosing a single word, such as "Reply STOP," satisfies the text disclosure, but the sender must still honor all seven standard words.³
• Keep the 10 business day deadline, and open a further notice that asks about shortening it, requiring two-way texting and requiring a revoke-all method.³

The new rules become effective 30 days after Federal Register publication and will supersede the delayed revoke-all provision.³ As of October 7, 2026, the order had not been published in the Federal Register. Until it is, process opt-outs made by any reasonable means, and do not rely on an exclusive opt-out method.

For a property manager, this matters directly. Once the new rule is effective, a tenant who replies STOP to a renewal promotion would not by itself have to lose rent reminders, if those sit in a separate informational category. Build your texting so each message type can be stopped on its own.

Quiet hours, Do Not Call and cold outreach to owners

Calling window. No telephone solicitation may be made to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location.¹ The rule is written for solicitations, but many managers apply the same window to every automated message so the schedule stays simple.

National Do Not Call Registry. A telephone solicitation to a residential number on the national registry is a violation unless an exception applies.¹ The definition of telephone solicitation excludes calls to a person who gave prior express invitation or permission and calls to a person with whom you have an established business relationship.¹ That relationship lasts 18 months after the person's last purchase or transaction with you, or three months after an inquiry or application, and ends if the person asks you not to call.¹

An owner who requested a rental analysis two months ago can be called about management. An expired listing owner or a for-rent-by-owner landlord you found online usually has no relationship with you, so if that number is on the registry, a cold call or text is barred.

The safe harbor for registry errors requires written procedures, staff training, a process that uses a version of the registry obtained no more than 31 days before the call, and records of that process.¹ The FTC tells sellers to sync with an updated registry at least every 31 days and says most calls to businesses made to solicit sales from that business are exempt from its Do Not Call provisions.¹¹ Do not assume an owner's personal cell phone is a business line because they own rentals. The safer practice is to treat it as residential.

Internal do-not-call list. Anyone making telemarketing calls must keep a written do-not-call policy available on demand, train staff on it, record each request, honor it within 10 business days and keep it for five years. Each telemarketing call must give the caller's name, the company's name and a phone number or address.¹

The owner lead follow-up playbook shows where these checks fit in an outreach sequence.

A2P 10DLC registration for business texting

Federal law is only half of texting compliance. The carriers decide what gets delivered.

The Campaign Registry, the registry for 10-digit long code (10DLC) business texting, says any business that uses SMS on 10DLC to communicate with customers or employees is required to register. That includes businesses that send individual messages that are not marketing, because all business messaging is treated as non-consumer, or application-to-person (A2P), traffic.¹² A business registers as a "brand" and registers each "campaign," meaning each use case, such as Marketing or Customer Care, usually through its messaging provider rather than directly.¹²

CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices say carriers may add campaign pre-approval, vetting, audits and filtering for business senders.⁶ They also say to send recurring-message subscribers a confirmation that names the program, gives a help contact, explains how to opt out, and discloses message frequency and any fees. CTIA recommends keeping, for each opt-in, the timestamp, the method, the language shown, the campaign, the IP address, the phone number and who consented. Under CTIA's guidelines, an opt-in applies only to the campaign it was given for.⁶

Register tenant communications and owner marketing as separate campaigns so they match the consent tiers.

State rules: Florida and Oklahoma go further

See /states and /laws for state comparisons. Two states stand out.

Florida. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act requires prior express written consent for an unsolicited telephonic sales call that uses an automated system for the selection and dialing of numbers or a recorded message.⁸ A telephonic sales call includes a text message or voicemail, and "consumer goods or services" expressly includes real property.⁸ Calls to a Florida area code are presumed to reach a Florida resident. Damages are $500 per violation, up to three times that for willful violations, and a person must first reply STOP and give the sender 15 days before suing over texts.⁸ A separate Florida statute bars commercial solicitation calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. and limits them to three in 24 hours on the same subject.¹³

Oklahoma. The Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022, effective November 1, 2022, requires prior express written consent for commercial telephonic sales calls that use an automated system for the selection or dialing of numbers or a recorded message. It sets an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window, caps calls at three per 24 hours on the same subject, presumes calls to Oklahoma area codes reach Oklahomans, and allows $500 per violation, trebled if willful.⁹ The act lists exemptions in Section 775C.5, so check whether your calls fit one before relying on it.⁹

What to do now

• Split your consent language. Put a texting consent for account and maintenance messages in the rental application and lease, and a separate, optional, signed marketing consent that states it is not a condition of renting or doing business.¹
• Label every template as informational or marketing, and strip promotions out of rent reminders and work order updates.⁶
• Keep consent records. Store the timestamp, the form or method, the exact language and the number for every opt-in.⁶
• Honor opt-outs fast. Recognize the seven standard words and plain-language requests, and push every opt-out to all systems that text or call that number within 10 business days. Send at most one confirmation text, with no marketing.¹
• Do not adopt an exclusive opt-out method yet. Wait for FCC 26-67 to be published in the Federal Register and take effect, then decide.³
• Scrub owner and seller outreach. Check the National Do Not Call Registry at least every 31 days, and check your internal do-not-call list before every campaign. Write down which leads have an established business relationship and when it expires.¹¹¹
• Write the do-not-call policy. Train staff, record requests, keep them five years, and make sure callers identify themselves and the company.¹
• Respect the clock. Send solicitations only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. for Florida and Oklahoma numbers.¹¹³⁹
• Get consent before AI or prerecorded voice calls. Treat AI-generated voices as artificial voices under the TCPA.⁷
• Register for 10DLC. Confirm with your messaging provider that your brand and each campaign are registered, with tenant and marketing traffic separated.¹²
• Put it on the calendar. Add a check for the FCC 26-67 effective date and the January 31, 2027 revoke-all date to your compliance calendar, and build the consent step into tenant move-in.³

This article explains the rules and is not legal advice.