Texting old leads in the US: TCPA, A2P 10DLC and state rules explained

Usually, yes, and the type of consent matters. Under the TCPA, marketing texts sent with an autodialer generally need prior express written consent, while some informational messages need a lower standard. Whether an old lead gave the right consent depends on what your form, your platform or your call script said when they inquired.

Practical steps before any campaign:

• Check the source. Leads from your own website forms, home shows and inbound calls carry the consent language you used. Leads bought from platforms such as Angi or Thumbtack carry the platform's terms.
• Check the wording. Did the form mention texts? Did it name your business?
• Remove anyone who opted out of calls or texts in the past, and scrub against your internal do-not-contact list.

The FCC's "one-to-one" consent rule, which would have tightened consent for leads shared between businesses, was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit in January 2025 (Reed Smith). That does not remove the underlying consent rules. If in doubt about a lead source, ask counsel.

Federal rules restrict telemarketing calls to between 8am and 9pm in the recipient's local time, and marketing texts are generally treated the same way (ActiveProspect). Several states go further. A sample, as summarized by ActiveProspect in September 2026:

State laws change. Check a current tracker such as Tychron's state texting laws guide before a campaign, and send in the lead's local time zone, not yours.

Every message should make it easy to stop, and STOP (and common variations such as "unsubscribe" or "no more texts") must be honored immediately. Opt-outs should carry across every number and channel your business uses, and be kept on file so the person is never contacted again by any campaign.

Setterly honors opt-outs straight away, stops the conversation and flags the contact back to you.

A2P 10DLC is the carrier registration system for business texting from standard 10-digit US numbers. Your business (the brand) and your use case (the campaign) are registered and vetted, and unregistered traffic is blocked or filtered by carriers (JustCall). Registration carries one-off and monthly fees (BlueReacher).

For lead reactivation, the campaign description, sample messages and opt-in description need to match what you actually send. Setterly sends from a registered number in your business name.

Before a campaign starts we go through these points with you:

• Lead source and consent: you confirm where each list came from and what the person agreed to. We leave out sources that don't fit.
• Wording: you approve the messages. Every message identifies your business and makes it easy to opt out.
• Timing: messages go out inside federal and state hours in the lead's local time, with state frequency limits respected.
• Opt-outs: honored immediately and passed back to you.
• Registration: messages are sent from a registered number in your business name.
• Records: every conversation is logged and visible to you.

None of this replaces your own legal advice. If your business has had TCPA claims before, or you work in a heavily regulated area such as auto finance, involve counsel early.

Dental and medical practices. HIPAA governs how patient information is handled. Standard SMS is not inherently HIPAA compliant, and the California Dental Association advises signing a Business Associate Agreement with any vendor that handles patient information and keeping texts to the minimum necessary (CDA). We agree the setup with each practice before a campaign, and texts never include clinical details.

Coaching and money-making programs. Don't promise earnings. In January 2025 the FTC proposed extending its Business Opportunity Rule to money-making opportunities such as business coaching, requiring substantiation for earnings claims (FTC; proposed, not final). Setterly's messages ask about goals and book a call; they never make income claims.