Comparing State Telemarketing Laws

As you likely know by now, the Supreme Court decision in Facebook v. Duguid,  the Court concluded that in order to qualify as an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the TCPA, equipment must have the capacity—(A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers. Since the Facebook Decision, several states have since passed their own “Mini-TCPA” laws which are more restrictive than the federal laws. Florida got the party started, followed by Oklahoma, Washington, New York, and Maryland.

Since then, Michigan and Georgia have followed suit with proposed telemarketing bills.

The trends that are seen in the enacted and proposed telemarketing laws include more stringent call time restrictions, call frequency limitations, disclosure requirements, expanded definitions of an ATDS, and larger penalties and enforcements for violations. These more restrictive Mini-TCPA State Regulations reveal that it will only continue be more challenging to maintain compliance relative to your marketing efforts.

Here’s a breakdown of the state telemarketing laws that are in effect, and of bills that are in different stages in the legislative process.

States That Have Enacted Mini-TCPA Laws Recently

State	Call Time Restrictions	Call Frequency Restrictions	Fines/Penalties	Other Important Rules to Note	Exemptions
Florida	8 am – 8 pm	No more than 3 attempts in 24 hours	$500 in damages or $1,500 per willful or knowing violation.  *Private Right of Action	Callers may not use a dialing platform that has the ability to automatically dial OR select records to be dialed	B2B Non-telemarketing calls
Washington	8 am – 8 pm	None	$100 per violation plus reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to prevailing plaintiffs.   *Private Right of Action	Caller must identify themselves within 30 seconds of the start of the calls; Caller must end call within 10 seconds of making a DNC request; Caller must advise consumer that calls will stop for a period of not less than one year; Caller must apply the DNC request to all numbers on record for that consumer	Calls made in response to a request; Calls made by a non-profit to its list of active members; Calls limited to polling, opinions, etc.; and Business to business calls.
Oklahoma	8 am – 8 pm	No more than 3 attempts in 24 hours	$500 per violation and up to $1,500 per willful violation. *Private Right of Action	Callers may not use a dialing platform that has the ability to automatically dial OR select records to be dialed.	27 exemptions which include EBR “Established Business Relationship”
New York	8 am – 9 pm	None	$11,000 per violation enforced by the Secretary of State	Law requires these disclosures be provided first in the call: the telemarketer’s name and the person on whose behalf the solicitation is being made, the option to be automatically added to the seller’s entity-specific DNC list. Only then shall the telemarketer proceed with: whether the call is being recorded, the purpose of the call, an identification of the goods or services for which a fee will be charged.	Express written or verbal consent Established Business Relationship
Maryland	9 am – 8 pm	No more than 3 attempts in 24 hours	Up to $1,000 ($5,000 for each subsequent offense) or one-year imprisonment, or both.	Callers may not use a dialing platform that has the ability to automatically dial OR select records to be dialed	Noncommercial solicitations for religious, charitable, political, or educational purposes. Business to business calls. Existing business relationship.
Georgia	8 am – 9 pm	None	Damages up to $1,000 per violation plus attorney’s fees *Private Right of Action	Businesses can be held liable for the actions of the telemarketing vendors	Exceptions for calls made to people who gave consent to be called or who have a prior or current business or personal relationship. Georgia’s law also includes an exemption for charities.

Recent Proposed State Telemarketing Laws

*Note these have not yet passed.

State	Bill Proposal & Actions	Call Time Restrictions	Call Frequency Restrictions	Fines and Penalties	Other Important Rules to Note
Michigan	HB 6307 (2022) Bill was introduced 06/30/2022 and has not had any action since.	9 am – 8 pm	Restricts telephone solicitors to call consumers “repeatedly, continuously, or in a manner that a reasonable person would consider annoying, harassing, or abusive.” (However, the bill does not define what is constituted as “repeatedly” or “continuously.”)	$25,000 per each violation, civil penalties of $75,000 per each violation if the consumer is over 75 or disabled, and $100,000 for each persistent and knowing violation if the consumer is over 75 or disabled.	Requires telephone solicitors to state their full first and last name and the full name, address, and telephone number of the organization or person on whose behalf the call is initiated at the beginning of the call. Restricts companies from using misleading phone numbers to misrepresent the location of origin of a telephone solicitation.

Please reach out to us at connect@compliancepoint.com if you have any questions about telemarketing laws or how CompliancePoint can assist your organization with managing your marketing compliance.