Last reviewed October 18, 2026 by Jackson McMillan, Florida attorney
Short answer: If the same company made more than one sales call within 12 months to your registered home or personal cell number, at least 31 days after you registered, and no exemption applies, federal law lets you sue for up to $500 per call. Florida's own law has no two-call requirement, but it has conditions of its own.
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When can I sue over calls to a number on the Do Not Call list?
You generally need five things: sales calls, not other kinds of calls; a residential number, which can include a personal cell phone; a number that was on the Registry at least 31 days before the calls; more than one call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same company; and no exemption that covers the caller.
The National Do Not Call Registry is the federal government's free list for opting out of telemarketing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) runs it at donotcall.gov, and the FCC's rules require telemarketers to honor a registration indefinitely (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2)). The right to sue comes from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, the federal law that limits telemarketing and robocalls.
The TCPA lets "a person who has received more than one telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity" in violation of the rules bring a lawsuit (47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5)). Read that literally: two calls from two different companies don't add up to a federal claim against either one, and a single call from one company doesn't either, no matter how rude the caller was.
Two calls in one week from the same solar installer, or one call in March and another in November from the same auto warranty seller, can meet the rule. Calls you never answered may count too, if you can show they were sales calls, for example through a voicemail pitch or a later call from the same number that made the pitch.
A "sales call," which the law calls a telephone solicitation, means a call that encourages you to buy, rent, or invest in property, goods, or services (47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4)). A call from a business that simply wants to tell you something, with no pitch, isn't one.
How long after I register do sales calls have to stop?
Allow up to 31 days. Telemarketers may work from a copy of the Registry that is up to 31 days old, and the FTC tells consumers it can take that long for sales calls to stop. Assume calls in the first 31 days after you registered won't count toward a claim. After that, your registration stays in place permanently.
Your registration date matters, so prove it. You can confirm a number is registered at donotcall.gov, or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you registered. If you register online, the FTC sends an email with a link you must click within 72 hours to finish. Keep that confirmation email; it is often the first document I ask for.
If you aren't sure when you registered, check now and screenshot the result. Even if your number was never on the list, calls that continue after today's registration can matter once the 31 days pass.
Does the Do Not Call list protect my cell phone?
Usually, if you use it as a personal phone. The FCC applies the Do Not Call rules to calls and texts to wireless numbers, and courts often presume that a registered cell phone used for personal purposes is "residential." A phone used mainly for business may not qualify, and a few courts have questioned the rule for cell phones.
That last point matters more than it used to. In 2025, the Supreme Court decided in McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson that federal trial courts decide what the TCPA means for themselves, giving the FCC's view respect but not binding deference. FCC positions that help consumers, including the treatment of personal cell phones as residential, can now be challenged in court.
In practice, tell me how you use the number. If it is your everyday personal phone, that supports a claim. If you also list it for a side business or on a company website, that is something to sort out early, not a reason to give up.
Which calls are allowed even if I'm on the list?
The Registry blocks telephone solicitations, meaning sales calls. Even sales calls are allowed in a few situations: you gave signed written permission, you have a recent business relationship with the seller, the caller is a tax-exempt nonprofit, or the caller has a personal relationship with you. Political calls, debt collection, informational calls, and true surveys are outside the rule.
| Caller or situation | Covered by the federal Do Not Call rule? |
|---|---|
| A seller you bought from or did a transaction with in the last 18 months | No, until you ask it to stop calling. Your request ends that relationship for this purpose. |
| A seller you made an inquiry or application to in the last 3 months | No, same rule: asking it to stop ends the exemption. |
| A company with your signed written agreement to call, naming the seller and your number | No. |
| A tax-exempt nonprofit, or someone calling on its behalf | No. |
| Political campaigns, debt collectors, purely informational calls, and surveys with no sales pitch | No. |
| A stranger selling solar, auto warranties, insurance, or home services, with no relationship and no written permission | Yes. |
One caution: a call outside the Do Not Call rule can still break a different rule. A political or debt collection robocall to your cell phone using a recorded or AI voice, with no consent, can violate the TCPA's robocall section. See robocalls you never agreed to.
What if I already told the company to stop calling?
Then a second set of rules applies, and it can be stronger than the Registry. Every company that telemarkets to homes must keep its own do-not-call list, record your request, and honor it within 10 business days. Unlike the Registry, this rule has no exception for existing customers, and the seller answers for a vendor that ignores your request.
Under the FCC rule, a company that telemarkets must have a written do-not-call policy available on request, train its staff on it, keep your request for 5 years, and tell you the name of the caller and the company it is calling for (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)). The 10-business-day deadline took effect April 11, 2025. Calls that break these rules can support a federal lawsuit, and the more-than-one-call rule still applies.
Florida law adds its own version. Once you tell a seller you don't want its calls, texts, or voicemails, no one may contact you again on that seller's behalf (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(5)).
The words you use matter less than proving you said them. Ask the caller which company they represent, say plainly "put me on your do-not-call list," and write down the date, time, and name right after you hang up. If the request was by text, screenshot it. My page on calls after you asked them to stop covers stop requests in more detail.
Send me your Do Not Call confirmation and screenshots of the calls. I'll check them against the federal and Florida rules and tell you where you stand, free.
Does Florida have its own Do Not Call list?
Yes. Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services keeps a "no sales solicitation calls" list. Signing up is free, and your number stays on it indefinitely. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, or FTSA, is the state law that bars sales calls to listed numbers, and unlike the federal law, its text does not require more than one call.
By statute, Florida's list includes Florida numbers on the national Registry. Whether a national registration alone supports a Florida claim is unsettled, because the statute refers to the state's own "then-current quarterly listing." The safer course is simple: register on both lists and keep proof of each.
The FTSA's list rule reaches sales calls that are "unsolicited." Calls you requested, calls about a debt you owe or an unfinished contract, calls from a business you have or had a relationship with, and newspaper calls fall outside it. The FTSA also doesn't cover political, survey, or debt collection calls.
What about sales texts?
Under federal law, this is unsettled. Whether marketing texts count as "telephone calls" for a Do Not Call lawsuit has split the courts. Several federal judges in Florida and Georgia, and a federal appeals court in July 2026, said no; other courts disagree; and an appeal on the question is reportedly pending in the Eleventh Circuit. I don't promise federal Do Not Call damages for texts.
The FTSA, by contrast, expressly covers texts. Before suing for damages over sales texts, though, you must reply STOP and give the company 15 days to stop. See spam texts in Florida.
Late-night sales calls
Federal rules bar telephone solicitations to homes before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., your local time. Florida's limit is stricter: commercial telephone sellers may not call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m., or more than three times in 24 hours on the same subject (Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6)). That Florida rule is part of the Florida Telemarketing Act, not the FTSA. It allows actual and punitive damages plus attorney's fees rather than a set $500 award, and many sellers are exempt.
What can a Do Not Call claim be worth?
Under the TCPA, you recover your actual losses or up to $500 per call, whichever is greater, and you can ask the court to order the calls stopped. If the company acted willfully or knowingly, the court may increase the award up to three times. A company that proves it had reasonable procedures to prevent these calls has a defense.
Notice the wording: the Do Not Call section says "up to $500," while the robocall section says $500. The court has some room in setting the amount, and nothing about the outcome is automatic. Value turns on how many calls there were, whether you can prove each one, whether an exemption applies, and whether the company behind the calls can be identified and has money to pay.
Under the FTSA, a called party may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and the court may increase that up to three times for willful or knowing violations.
On attorney's fees, the two laws differ. The federal TCPA has no fee-shifting provision, so a company that loses does not have to pay your attorney's fees under it. The FTSA awards attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party, whichever side that is, so a consumer who brings an FTSA claim and loses can be ordered to pay the company's fees. I explain that risk before anything is filed. You don't pay me unless you win. I take these cases on contingency: no attorney's fees and no case costs owed to me unless you recover money. If a case is lost, a court can sometimes order the losing side to pay the other side's court costs, and some Florida laws, including the security deposit and deceptive practices statutes, also let the winner recover attorney's fees from the loser. I explain that risk before anything is filed, and every term is in a written agreement before you sign.
How long do I have to file a Do Not Call claim?
Generally four years from each call for a federal TCPA claim. The FTSA states no deadline of its own; Florida's four-year limit for statutory claims likely applies, though no court has settled it. Each call has its own clock, so calls more than four years old may drop out even if newer ones count.
Waiting also costs evidence. Phones overwrite call logs, carrier records are not kept forever, and a company's identity is easier to trace while the calls are recent.
What to do today
- Confirm your registration at donotcall.gov and screenshot the result, or find your original confirmation email.
- Sign up for Florida's list through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and keep that confirmation too.
- Screenshot the call log for every sales call: number, date, and time.
- Keep voicemails and texts that show what was being sold and by whom.
- On the next call, ask for the company name and say "put me on your do-not-call list." Write down the date, time, and the caller's name.
- Note any past dealings with the company, such as a purchase, quote, or online form, since that affects the exemptions.
- Send it to me. Request a free case review with your confirmation and screenshots, and I'll tell you whether the calls meet the federal two-call rule or Florida's law.
My spam call documentation checklist has a call diary you can use from today forward.
Sources: 47 U.S.C. §§ 227(a)(4), 227(c)(5); 47 C.F.R. §§ 64.1200(c), 64.1200(d), 64.1200(e), 64.1200(f); Fla. Stat. §§ 501.059, 501.616; 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a); McLaughlin Chiropractic Assocs. v. McKesson Corp., 606 U.S. 146 (2025); Strengthening the Ability of Consumers to Stop Robocalls, 89 Fed. Reg. 82518 (Oct. 11, 2024); Federal Trade Commission, National Do Not Call Registry FAQs; Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Do Not Call. Last reviewed October 18, 2026.