Texas’s Expanded Telemarketing Restrictions Go Into Effect

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, was enacted in 1991 to protect consumers from unsolicited telemarketing calls, faxes, and now text messages.

For businesses that engage in telemarketing, the TCPA poses significant legal risk for noncompliance.  The TCPA's strict regulations and severe financial penalties mean that even inadvertent violations can lead to substantial fines and costly class-action lawsuits.

Adding more compliance risk to telemarketers, Texas enacted its own TCPA (known as the Texas “mini-TCPA”) in 2009 to further protect the privacy of Texas residents by imposing more requirements on businesses engaged in telemarketing activities in Texas and by implementing more robust enforcement mechanisms.

The Texas mini-TCPA was substantially changed by amendments (S.B. 140), which went into effect on September 1, 2025.  S.B 140 was intended to increase protections to consumers following several recent business-friendly Texas court decisions allowing businesses to avoid TCPA liability for unsolicited text messages since they were not explicitly covered under the law.  See Powers v. One Technologies (N.D. Tex. 2022).  With the S.B. 140 changes, Texas’s mini-TCPA now specifically includes text messages.  It also requires businesses that are subject to the Texas telemarketing law – businesses that engage in telemarketing activities both from or into the state of Texas – to register each location from which telephone solicitations are made with the Texas Secretary of State, to post a $10,000 security bond, and to comply with new disclosure requirements for texts and calls.  The S.B. 140 amendments also introduced penalties for violations, including treble damages and attorney fees under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.  Texas Business and Commerce Code §§ 301-305. Texas is now one of several states to strengthen their own state versions of the already complex TCPA. 

Applicable Entities and Covered Solicitations

The Texas mini-TCPA generally applies to “sellers” making “telephone solicitations” from within Texas or to a person located in Texas, for the purposes of causing the person to purchase, rent, claim, or receive a product or service. Texas Business and Commerce Code § 302.101.  “Seller” is defined as a person making telephone solicitations “on the person’s own behalf”, meaning that the law arguably does not apply to businesses which make solicitations for other businesses.  Texas Business and Commerce Code § 302.001(5). Under the expanded provisions of S.B. 140, "[t]elephone solicitation" is defined to include both calls and text messages. Texas Business and Commerce Code § 302.001(7).

Importantly, however, the law does not apply to specified categories of persons, including but not limited to:

• Educational institutions and § 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations;
• Persons soliciting the sale of food;
• Solicitations of current or former customers:
• Entities already regulated under specific state or federal schemes, such as banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and public utilities; and
• Individuals making isolated solicitations that are not part of a pattern of repeated, similar transactions. Texas Business and Commerce Code §§ 302.052 – 302.061.

Registration and Bonding Requirements

Texas requires that applicable entities obtain a separate registration certificate for each physical location from which such solicitations are made, and further that such certificate be publicly posted in the applicable location.  Texas Business and Commerce Code §§ 302.101, 302.201.   A $10,000 security deposit is required of each entity (but not for each location), and the state does allow for the security deposit to be satisfied through a third-party surety bond.  Texas Business and Commerce Code § 302.107.

Potential Penalties for Non-Compliance

Significantly, S.B.140 revised the law such that violations qualify as automatic violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which provides consumers a private right of action for statutory damages of not less than $500 and not more than $1,500 per unlawful call or text. Texas Business and Commerce Code § 302.303. Additionally, under the law itself, the Texas Attorney General may impose significant civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, as well as seek injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees. Texas Business and Commerce Code §302.302. 

Implications of the Revised Law and Next Steps

It is important to note that  entities do not have to be registered to do business in Texas to be required to register under the Texas telemarketing law; rather, absent meeting an exception to the law, calling or texting individuals located in Texas is enough to require registration.  It remains unclear if registration alone would cause Texas to deem a business to be doing business in the state for foreign registration and taxation purposes.

Therefore, any business that is engaged in telemarketing activities should do the following:

• Determine whether their telephone or SMS marketing campaigns require compliance with the provisions of the Texas mini-TCPA,
• Determine whether an exemption applies,
• If necessary, complete the statutory registration process and post any required bond, and
• Conduct an assessment of your current telemarketing practices and update all internal compliance protocols to reflect the expansion of the Texas mini-TCPA requirements.

EBG attorneys can guide you through these important steps.