Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

What to Do When Your Business Is Targeted

If your business uses automated calls, text message marketing, pre-recorded messages, or third-party lead generation, you need to know what to expect from TCPA enforcement and how to respond if you’re targeted.

What Triggers a TCPA Investigation?

State attorneys general don’t pull company names out of thin air. A pattern emerging across a data system, or even a single complaint, can trigger a signal within the FCC. Understanding what creates that signal is the first step in understanding your exposure to TCPA enforcement.

The TCPA restricts three categories of activity:

• Calls and texts to cell phones using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or a prerecorded or artificial voice, without prior express consent. For marketing communications, that consent must be written and signed in an agreement that clearly authorizes contact for a specific purpose and discloses that consent is not a condition of purchase.
• Calls to residential landlines using a prerecorded or artificial voice, without prior express consent.
• Calls to any number on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, absent an established business relationship or prior express invitation.

What To Do When You Receive a TCPA Demand Letter or Subpoena

The specific form of initial contact varies. You might receive a Civil Investigative Demand, a formal subpoena for documents, an investigative interrogatory, or an informal inquiry letter asking for voluntary information. Regardless of form, your response protocol should be the same.

Step 1: Preserve Everything Immediately

The moment you receive any communication, you must issue a litigation hold. This means immediately suspending:

• All automated email purge policies
• Auto-delete settings on messaging platforms and internal communications systems
• Scheduled data deletion processes for CRM records, call logs, and consent documentation
• Any routine overwrites or archiving procedures that would destroy potentially relevant data

You must preserve all documentary material that could reasonably relate to the investigation — your telemarketing campaigns, consent records, opt-in documentation, vendor contracts, call logs, text message records, DNC scrub histories, and compliance program materials. Failure to preserve relevant evidence can convert an investigation into something far more serious if spoliation occurs.

Step 2: Do Not Respond Directly Without Counsel

This step is violated more often than you’d expect, and the consequences are serious. An informal inquiry letter from an attorney general’s office may look like a routine request for information — something you could handle by sending over a few documents and an explanation. It isn't. Everything you submit becomes part of the investigation record. Statements you make voluntarily can be used as admissions. Documents you provide voluntarily can define the scope of further inquiry.

Do not send any documents, make any calls to the attorney general’s office, or provide any written statements before retaining experienced TCPA defense counsel.

Step 3: Assess Your Exposure Scope

Once counsel is retained, the next step is an honest internal assessment of what the investigation is likely focused on. This means reviewing your campaigns, your consent architecture, your vendor relationships, and your compliance program against both federal TCPA requirements and the specific state laws where the attorney general has jurisdiction. The goal is to understand your actual exposure before you engage with the investigating office, not manufacture a defense narrative after the fact.

This is also the moment to identify whether the investigation appears to be single-state or multistate, whether the FTC is involved in parallel, and whether other companies in your supply chain (lead generators, call centers, affiliates) have received similar inquiries.

Step 4: Retain Experienced TCPA Defense Counsel

Not all litigation counsel is the same. Responding to an attorney general’s TCPA investigation requires familiarity with both the federal regulatory framework (TCPA, FCC rules, FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule) and the specific state statutory regime in the jurisdiction investigating you. It also requires knowing how a given attorney general’s office operates, what resolution paths they typically favor, and how to negotiate productively without conceding more than necessary.

Retaining experienced TCPA defense counsel early is the single decision that has the most impact on outcome.

Possible Outcomes of a TCPA Investigation

Not every investigation ends in litigation. Understanding the full range of possible outcomes helps you make realistic decisions about strategy and resolution.

Closure With No Action

In some cases, an investigation closes without any formal action. This typically happens when the initial inquiry was triggered by a small number of complaints that don't reflect a broader pattern, when the business demonstrates strong compliance processes and limited exposure, or when the attorney general’s office determines the matter doesn’t rise to the level warranting enforcement resources. No-action closures are more common for businesses that respond strategically and cooperatively through counsel.

Assurance of Voluntary Compliance

An Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) is an agreement between the attorney general’s office and the company where the company agrees to modify certain practices, typically without admitting wrongdoing. AVCs are binding, often require compliance reporting, and usually carry the threat of expedited contempt proceedings if violated. They are, however, generally preferable to a contested proceeding. Many attorney generals favor AVCs for first-time violations where the business demonstrates good faith.

Consent Judgment or Settlement

A consent judgment is a more formal resolution that typically involves monetary relief, including civil penalties, consumer redress, or both, along with injunctive requirements. Consent judgments are public, binding, and enforceable as court orders. In the telemarketing enforcement space, state attorney general settlements have ranged from low-six-figure amounts for smaller operators to nine-figure outcomes in the insurance lead-gen sector. The size of the resolution depends heavily on the scale of violations, the strength of your compliance evidence, and the quality of your legal representation.

TCPA Defense Attorneys

Kronenberger Rosenfeld has spent years defending businesses against TCPA claims at every stage, from pre-litigation demand letters through class action defense. Our TCPA attorneys advise clients on consent architecture, compliance program design, and vendor oversight structures.

We understand both sides of the TCPA enforcement equation: what the plaintiffs’ bar is looking for when it evaluates a case, and what regulators are prioritizing when they open an investigation. That perspective informs how we build defenses and how we counsel clients on compliance.

Whether you’re trying to strengthen your compliance program before something happens, dealing with an active demand, or navigating a class action, we’re ready to help you understand your options and take the right next steps. Contact us through our online case submission form for a free consultation.