On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed into law SB 140, which broadens the state’s telemarketing and telephone solicitation regulations with the stated goal of protecting consumers. Importantly, SB 140 not only adds requirements for “traditional” telemarketing but treats marketing tactics using short message service (SMS) and text messaging as “telephone solicitations.” This change now brings many companies’ SMS marketing activities within the scope of Texas’s telephone solicitation rules.
Effective September 1, 2025:
- The definition of “telephone solicitation” has been expanded to encompass SMS, text, and graphic messages, placing companies that engage in those marketing strategies under Texas’s telemarketer statutes.
- Consumers can now bring a private right of action under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (TDTPA), and previous recoveries for TDTPA violations will not limit recoveries in later proceedings.
- Consumers have a preexisting private right of action to bring against violators of the telephone solicitation regulations and Telemarketing Disclosure and Privacy Act, but a prior lawsuit will no longer limit recovery in a future legal proceeding.
Given the expanded opportunities for consumers to bring lawsuits, it is critical that businesses making telemarketing calls and telephone solicitations strictly comply with Texas statutes. Most businesses are familiar with the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), but businesses should not exclusively rely on their understanding of the TCPA in light of the new Texas regulations, which differ from the TCPA in several ways.
The Texas law widens the path for plaintiffs to bring lawsuits with enhanced damages. And depending on the parties at issue, companies may find themselves as defendants in lawsuits in Texas state courts without the ability to remove to federal court.
The Texas law also contains more expansive protections for consumers than the federal TCPA. By expanding “quiet hours,” it requires any lawful telephone solicitations to be made “after 12 noon and before 9 p.m. on a Sunday or after 9 a.m. and before 9 p.m. on a weekday or a Saturday.” The federal TCPA only regulates calls “before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.”
Additionally, Texas telemarketing law has long had a registration requirement in place to protect Texas residents from telemarketer-related fraud. The rule – with very few, limited, and often nebulous exceptions – requires companies to register with Texas’s Public Utilities Commission and post a bond before they can engage in telephone solicitations in Texas. Failure to register is considered an unfair and deceptive practice subject to enforcement by the Texas attorney general and private plaintiffs.
Specifically, the registration rule requires the following:
- Any seller who makes telephone solicitations in Texas or solicits consumers in Texas must hold a registration certificate for each location where telephone solicitations are made. The Texas secretary of state provides a form for registration, which must be renewed annually, requiring disclosure of contact information as well as the specific types of products being sold.
- Every quarter, the seller must file an addendum recounting each salesperson who solicited on the entity’s behalf and any material changes of information to their original registration statement. The seller must post a $10,000 security bond and ensure that a proper agent for service of process has been appointed.
- Since SMS/text messages are now considered “telephone solicitations,” the registration requirement now also applies to any company that sends marketing SMS messages to Texas residents. The way Texas’s code is structured, a company cannot send marketing text messages to Texas residents unless a registration has been put in place. This represents a significant change for companies that have sent marketing text/SMS messages to Texas residents in the past.
There are a number of exemptions to the registration requirement. For example, publicly traded companies and supervised financial institutions do not have to register. But Texas statutes indicate the registration requirement is to be “construed liberally” to protect Texans, so the scope of exemptions may be tested.
Violations of Texas telemarketing and telephone solicitation regulations can carry a fine of $500 to $5,000 per violation, and these amounts can be trebled for intentional misconduct. Not all consumer contacts are considered violations of the state’s telemarketing and telephone solicitation regulations, such as when the consumer has provided written consent or has an established business relationship with the entity.
Still, with the hefty liability attached to violations of these regulations, the expanded opportunities for private individuals to bring lawsuits, and the uncertainty of how this new law will play out in the courts, businesses should scrutinize their practices closely and consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance before September 1, 2025.
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please contact one of the attorneys on our TCPA Counseling & Litigation team.
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