The Do Not Call (DNC) provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) are as follows:

Internal Do Not Call List Requirements
The internal DNC list refers to the Entity-Specific Do Not Call Provision. This provision mandates that telemarketers keep and maintain their own do not call list, specific to their organization. When a consumer asks to be put on your do not call list, you should honor that request immediately.

As an agent, you can call homeowners who originally listed their home with you for up to 18 months after the contract expiration date. Calling during that period of time is allowed as long as the homeowner has not requested that you do not call them.

As an agent, you may contact a seller marketing a for sale by owner (FSBO) property about your client’s potential interest in purchasing the property, even if that seller’s number is on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. The pitfall is that as a buyer’s representative, you may only discuss your client’s interest in the property. You cannot use your client’s interest as a way to solicit the listing. Doing so puts you in violation of DNC regulations.

There is an assumption that because real estate agents are independent contractors that Do Not Call (DNC) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulations do not apply to them.

Big businesses are often seen in the spotlight for being violators of these statutes and individuals may think that their actions will go unnoticed by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulators—these assumptions are false.

Compliance is mandatory for real estate agents.

The main provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) are as follows:

Calling Time Restrictions
Companies can contact residential consumers only between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM (recipient’s time zone).

Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems (ATDS)
The TCPA restricts autodialed marketing calls and texts to cell phones and other devices where the recipient might be charged for the call without written consent, and non-marketing autodialed calls without prior express consent.

The federal government’s National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the auspices of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). Within that regulatory framework, there are best practices guidelines that, when paired with supporting documentation, allow for the possibility of claiming safe harbor.

It is possible that a single complaint of a Do Not Call (DNC) violation could trigger enforcement actions from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Depending on the particular details of the violations, penalties could be enforced by either the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). State attorneys general may also bring civil actions on behalf of the residents of their states.