Can Realtors Text Leads? A TCPA and Do Not Call Checklist

"Can I text this person?" has a different answer depending on where the number came from. A buyer who filled in your website form and ticked a text-consent box is a very different case from a number pulled off an expired listing.

Our speed-to-lead article covers how to answer new inquiries quickly without breaking the rules. This one goes source by source, adds the Do Not Call mechanics, and explains the 2025 change to the consent rule that some industry pages still get wrong.

Not legal advice. We build and test automations; we're not lawyers. This is a plain-English summary of primary sources, checked on October 28, 2026. State telemarketing laws, your broker's policies and your MLS rules add to it, and courts disagree on some of the federal points. Have your broker or a lawyer review your process before you automate any texts or calls.

Three federal rules do most of the work

All three are in the FCC's TCPA rules, 47 CFR 64.1200:

Written consent for automated marketing texts and calls to cell phones. Telemarketing sent with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice needs "prior express written consent" (section (a)(2)). Section (f)(9) defines that as a signed written agreement (electronic signatures count) that authorizes those messages to a specific number and says the person doesn't have to agree in order to buy anything. Whether a particular texting tool legally counts as an "autodialer" is a contested question. Don't build your process on winning that argument.
Do Not Call. You may not make a "telephone solicitation" to a number on the national Do Not Call registry (section (c)(2)), and you must keep your own internal list of people who asked you to stop (section (d)). Both apply to texts to cell phones (section (e)).
Quiet hours. No telephone solicitation before 8 am or after 9 pm, local time at the recipient's location (section (c)(1)).

What's at stake: the TCPA lets recipients sue for actual losses or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and a court may triple it for willful or knowing violations (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3)). For Do Not Call violations, a person needs to have received more than one call within 12 months to sue, for up to $500 per violation (227(c)(5)). Each text can count as a separate violation, which is how small campaigns become large claims.

In 2023 the FCC adopted a rule that would have required consent to be given to one seller at a time, ending the practice of one form sharing consent with many agents or companies. Before it took effect, the Eleventh Circuit vacated it in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC (January 24, 2025). The FCC then removed the change from its rules, effective August 29, 2025 (Federal Register notice).

NAR's telemarketing resource page still lists a 2024 article saying the rule "goes into effect on Jan. 27, 2025". That's outdated. What hasn't changed: you still need prior express written consent for automated marketing texts, and a consent form that names a long list of "partners" is still weak evidence that the person agreed to hear from you.

Source by source

Your own website or IDX form

Can you auto-text? Yes, if the form collected written consent: an unticked checkbox with wording your broker approved, naming your brokerage, stored on the lead with the date and form version. Everyone else gets email.

This is the case our lead auto-reply recipe is built for. It emails every new lead, texts only those with recorded consent, and waits for 8 am to 9 pm in the lead's time zone.

Portal leads and bought leads

Can you auto-text? Only if the consent the person gave covers you, and you can prove it. Ask the portal or vendor what their consent language says and whether you can get a record of it. If you can't, treat the lead as email-only for automation. Replying personally from your own phone to someone who just asked about a listing is a different situation from putting them in an automated sequence, but even then, respect any opt-out right away.

Open-house sign-ins

Can you auto-text? Only visitors who ticked a text-consent box on the sign-in form. A visitor who wrote down their number gave you permission to follow up, but that's not the same as signing a written agreement to automated marketing texts.

Our open house follow-up recipe includes a tablet sign-in form with an unticked-by-default consent box. Visitors get a thank-you email, a text only if they ticked the box, and one follow-up. Anyone who says they're working with another agent gets the thank-you email only.

Past clients

Can you auto-text? Only with recorded text consent. Past clients often fall under the Do Not Call "established business relationship" exception. Section (f)(5) defines it as a purchase or transaction within the past 18 months, or an inquiry within the past three months. A Do Not Call request ends it. But that exception only gets you past the Do Not Call registry. It isn't written consent for automated texts, and a client who closed three years ago is outside the 18-month window anyway.

Our past client anniversary recipe sends one email a year with a working unsubscribe link, texts only clients with recorded consent, and creates a call task for you three days before.

FSBOs and expired listings

Can you auto-text? No. This is cold outreach. The owner advertised their home, not their willingness to hear from agents. Before calling, scrub every number against the national registry, any state list and your internal list. For automated texts or prerecorded messages, you'd need written consent you don't have. We don't build cold-outreach automations, and we'd advise against buying a tool that promises to make this safe.

Florida has a narrow exception: its state "no sales solicitation calls" list doesn't apply to a licensed agent calling a seller "in response to a yard sign or other form of advertisement placed by the seller" (Fla. Stat. 501.059(4)). That exception is for the Florida list only. It doesn't cover the federal registry.

AI voice calls and prerecorded voicemail

Can you automate? Not without consent. The FCC ruled in February 2024 that the TCPA's limits on "artificial or prerecorded voice" calls "encompass current AI technologies that generate human voices" (FCC 24-17). An AI caller that dials leads is treated like a robocall.

Do Not Call mechanics, in practice

The registry rule has a safe harbor for honest mistakes, but only if you can show routine compliance (section (c)(2)(i)):

written procedures for complying with the Do Not Call rules;
trained staff, including anyone on your team who calls or texts;
your internal do-not-call list in use;
a registry download no more than 31 days old before calls are made, with records showing that you did this.

The internal list (section (d)) has its own requirements. You need a written policy, available on request. Record a request the moment it's made and honor it within ten business days at most. Keep honoring it for five years. A Do Not Call request to you also ends any established business relationship with that person.

For automation, the practical version: one shared opt-out list that every tool checks before it sends anything, fed by STOP replies, plain-English "remove me" messages and notes from calls. Under section (a)(10), consent can be revoked "by using any reasonable method". Replies such as "stop", "quit", "end", "revoke", "opt out", "cancel" or "unsubscribe" count automatically.

State laws: Florida as an example

Several states have their own telemarketing laws, and some go further than the federal one. Florida's is a useful example:

texts count as "telephonic sales calls", and selling or renting real property is covered (501.059(1));
automated sales calls and texts need prior express written consent, and a ticked box counts as a signature (501.059(1)(h) and (8)(a));
recipients can sue for actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, up to three times that if the violation was willful or knowing (501.059(10)).

For texts, Florida requires the recipient to reply "STOP" first. The sender then has 15 days to stop before a lawsuit is allowed (501.059(10)(c)). That's a reason to make sure STOP works instantly in every tool you use, not a reason to wait 15 days.

Check your own state's rules, or ask your broker; many brokerages already have a written policy.

The checklist

Every number in your CRM is tagged with where it came from and whether you have written text consent (with the date and wording).
Automated texts go only to numbers with recorded written consent naming you or your brokerage. Everyone else gets email or a personal call.
Portal and purchased leads are email-only in automations until you've seen and saved the consent they gave.
Cold outreach (FSBO, expired, absentee owners) is never automated, and every number is scrubbed against the federal registry (31 days or newer), state lists and your internal list.
You have a written Do Not Call policy, your team has been trained on it, and requests are recorded the moment they come in.
One opt-out list feeds every tool, and STOP or "remove me" ends messages from all of them.
Texts and calls wait for 8 am to 9 pm in the recipient's time zone.
No AI-voice or prerecorded calls without written consent.
Your Twilio number has an approved A2P 10DLC campaign. See Is missed-call text-back legal? for what that involves.

Where our recipes fit

The three recipes linked above only text people with recorded consent, check quiet hours by time zone and share one opt-out list. They never do cold outreach. They were tested on October 28, 2026 with mocks of Follow Up Boss, Twilio and Resend and made-up contacts, never with a live brokerage account. They don't collect consent for you or decide whether a lead's consent is valid. That's a question for you, your broker and your counsel. For the full list of rules we design around, see the real estate hub.

Sources

All checked on October 28, 2026.

FCC TCPA rules: 47 CFR 64.1200 (regulation text)
TCPA statute: 47 U.S.C. 227 (statute)
Eleventh Circuit: Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, No. 24-10277 (court opinion)
FCC: Federal Register notice removing the one-to-one change, August 29, 2025 and Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17 on AI voices (regulator)
Florida: Fla. Stat. 501.059 (state statute)
NAR: Telemarketing and cold calling resource page (industry association; partly outdated, see above)

Can real estate agents text leads? A TCPA and Do Not Call checklist by lead source