You asked them to stop calling. You pressed 1 to opt out. You told them directly you were not interested. And yet the calls keep coming. If this sounds familiar, you may have a legal claim worth thousands of dollars — and the company making those calls may not even realize how much exposure they have created.
Federal law is very specific about what companies can and cannot do when contacting consumers by phone and text. And unlike many areas of law, it does not require you to prove you were financially harmed. The violation itself is enough.
What the Law Actually Prohibits
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act restricts how businesses may contact consumers. Companies generally cannot use automated dialing systems or prerecorded voice messages to contact you without your prior express consent. They cannot send marketing text messages without consent. And they cannot call numbers registered on the National Do Not Call Registry. Each of these restrictions applies independently — and each call or text may be a separate violation.
Consent and What Happens When You Revoke It
You have the right to revoke consent at any time, by any reasonable method — including telling the caller directly to stop, replying STOP to a text, or sending a written request.
Once you clearly revoke consent, any automated call or text that follows may be an independent, separate TCPA violation — each carrying its own statutory damages.
How Much Is Each Violation Worth?
The law assigns fixed damages per violation: $500 for each negligent violation, and up to $1,500 for each willful or knowing violation. These amounts apply per call or text — not per case. A company that placed 20 unlawful calls could face $10,000 to $30,000 in liability for that one consumer. You do not need to prove that the calls caused you financial harm.
What Evidence Do You Need?
The most useful evidence is documentation of the calls or texts themselves: dates, times, the originating number, whether a recording played, and what was said or written. Screenshot text messages. Note call details as they happen. If you have already asked the company to stop contacting you, document that request and their response — or lack of one.
The Company May Not Know They Are Violating the Law
Many TCPA violations are committed by companies using automated marketing platforms or third-party dialing vendors, sometimes without full knowledge of the compliance requirements. That does not make the violation any less actionable. If you are receiving repeated calls or texts you did not authorize, the behavior may be illegal regardless of intent.
