November 01, 2025

You’ve been required for years to follow state and federal do-not-call laws. Senate Bill 140, passed during the 2025 Texas Legislature, updated Texas telephone solicitation laws. Here’s what’s new and, just as important, what’s not new but remains important to know.

Text Messages and Other Digital Messages Are Now Included

SB 140 expanded what counts as a “telephone call” and “telephone solicitation” when selling goods or services to include:

• Text messages
• Graphic/image messages
• Other types of electronic transmissions sent to a phone number.

Also, more types of telephone solicitation violations are now automatically considered “false, misleading, or deceptive” under the deceptive trade practices laws. This makes penalties even costlier. Consumers can sue and collect damages for each violation, even if they’ve already won damages for similar violations in the past.

If You Are Soliciting Business Through Calls and Texts Identify yourself right away: You should state your name, your company, and why you’re calling. Reach out only during allowed hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays. Don’t hide your caller ID or pretend to be someone else. Check the Texas No-Call List at least quarterly and keep proof you checked. Don’t contact listed numbers unless an exception applies. Know that texts count as calls. Same rules apply. Avoid autodialers/robotexting for cold outreach. Many exemptions do not apply if you use them. If anyone says, “do not call or text,” stop and keep a do-not-call/text list. Actions to Consider

• Maintain written calling/texting procedures, especially regarding making unsolicited sales calls/texts and other solicitations (how you scrub lists, hours, caller ID, do-not-call handling).
• Scrub against the Texas No-Call List regularly (it updates January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1). Document the date you scrubbed your list.
• Keep an internal do-not-call list and honor it immediately.
• Don’t use autodialers or mass-text tools for cold outreach.
• Train everyone to immediately identify themselves, state their purpose, and record opt-outs.
• If you or your brokerage does high-volume calling, find Texas SOS registration and bond forms at sos.state.tx.us/other/forms.shtml#TSF.
• When in doubt, consult an attorney.

Tread Carefully with Exemptions

• The statutory prohibitions on contacting numbers that have been added to the Texas No-Call List generally do not apply to: Consumers who asked you to contact them
• Consumers who contact you after receiving a solicitation or advertisement that meets all required federal and state law disclosures
• Current clients or recent clients, provided that the call or text is made within 12 months from the date that the relationship with such current or recent clients ended.

Registration with the Texas Secretary of State as a telephone solicitor may not be required under Chapter 302 if you only contact former or current clients and you have been operating under the same business name for at least two years.

Additional Obligations

If you regularly make sales calls/texts, you may fall under a law that requires registering with the Texas Secretary of State for each calling location (Telephone Solicitation Registration Statement or Form 3401), posting the registration certificate at the calling location, performing quarterly updates and annual renewals, maintaining security on file such as a surety bond, letter of credit, or CD, and providing additional seller information to the consumer.

Special Carve-Out for Texas License Holders

A Texas state licensee such as a real estate license holder may be exempt from the Texas No-Call List restrictions if all the following are true:

• You do not use an autodialer
• There is a face-to-face sales presentation before the solicitation is completed
• No payment/authorization happens until after that presentation
• The consumer hasn’t told you not to call.

Important: This exemption does not cover third-party callers working on your behalf.

Mobile Numbers and Charges

It is illegal to make a call to a mobile phone number for the purpose of making a sale of a good or service if the recipient might be charged for the call and has not given prior consent. (There is a similar prohibition that applies to a fax sent as a solicitation.)

Unintentional Calls

If you unintentionally call or text a no-call number, there is a narrow exception that may allow you to avoid a violation if you can prove that you had written compliance procedures in place, you checked the most current version of the list, and it was an isolated mistake.

Notice: These updates apply to Texas law. Telemarketing calls, texts, and the use of automatic dialing systems or prerecorded messages are also restricted by the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).