State Law
Texas SB 140: The Texas Telemarketing Law Now Covers Texts
What did Texas SB 140 change?
Short answerSB 140 (89th Legislature, 2025) took effect on 1 September 2025. It amended the Texas Business and Commerce Code so that a "telephone solicitation" under the registration chapter includes a text or graphic message or an image (§ 302.001(7)), and it made violations of the Texas no-call chapter and chapter 305 false, misleading or deceptive acts enforceable through the DTPA, public and private remedies alike (§§ 304.2581, 305.054). It applies only to conduct on or after the effective date.
On this page
Texas regulates telemarketing through four separate chapters of its Business & Commerce Code, and SB 140 touched three of them. The headline change is narrow in text and broad in effect: marketing texts now sit inside the registration chapter's definition of a telephone solicitation, and violations of the no-call chapter now carry the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act's remedies.
What SB 140 actually changed
The bill has seven sections. The ones that matter:
- Texts are telephone solicitations. § 302.001(7) now defines a telephone solicitation as a call "or other transmission, including a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image". § 302.001(6-a) imports the no-call chapter's definition of "telephone call" (§ 304.002).
- DTPA remedies for the no-call and chapter 305 rules. §§ 304.2581 and 305.054 make a violation a false, misleading or deceptive act under the DTPA and let public or private DTPA remedies enforce it. The registration chapter already had this provision (§ 302.303).
- Repeat plaintiffs are not discounted. §§ 302.003(b), 304.005(b) and 305.055 say that a claimant's earlier recoveries may not limit recovery in a later proceeding.
The Senate Research Center's analysis gives the reason: chapter 304 already reached text messages, but chapter 302 did not define "call", and a 2022 federal case had turned on that gap.
Registration under chapter 302
| Provision | Requirement |
|---|---|
| § 302.101 | No telephone solicitation from a Texas location or to a purchaser in Texas without a registration certificate, one per business location. |
| § 302.106 / § 302.107 | $200 filing fee; $10,000 security as a bond, irrevocable letter of credit or certificate of deposit. |
| § 302.104 / § 302.105 | Effective one year, renewed annually; quarterly addenda listing salespeople. |
| § 302.251 / § 302.252 | Knowingly soliciting unregistered, or selling for an unregistered seller, is a Class A misdemeanor. |
| § 302.302(a) | Civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation. |
The exemptions (§§ 302.053-302.061) are long, and the person claiming one has the burden of proving it (§ 302.051). Among them: publicly traded companies, insurance licensees and supervised financial institutions; 501(c)(3) and educational organizations; food sales; soliciting current or former customers under a business name used for at least two years; calls that only set up a later face-to-face sales presentation; and sellers whose business is mainly done at a retail location they have operated for at least two years.
Consent-based texting and the November 2025 order
Text-marketing businesses sued the state the day SB 140 took effect. The Attorney General's position was that "call" in chapter 302 carries chapter 304's exclusion for transmissions the customer agreed to receive. The case was dismissed without prejudice on 17 November 2025, by an order reciting that businesses running consent-based text campaigns are not subject to chapter 302's registration and disclosure requirements. The Secretary of State's FAQ now says the same. Cold or unconsented texting gets no comfort from either document.
The Texas no-call list (chapter 304)
The Texas no-call list combines numbers Texans register with the state and the Texas portion of the national Do Not Call Registry (§ 304.051(b)). It is published quarterly, and a telemarketer may not call a listed number more than 60 days after it appears (§ 304.052). "Telephone call" expressly includes a text, graphic or image sent to a mobile number (§ 304.002(10)(C)). The chapter does not apply to consumer-initiated calls, established business relationships, most business-to-business calls or debt collection (§ 304.004).
Chapter 304 also bars blocking or falsifying caller ID (§ 304.151). A telemarketer may display the name and number of the business it calls for. The state enforces with penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, or $3,000 where willful (§§ 304.251, 304.252). The chapter's own private action is hedged with preconditions: a second violation, notice to the telemarketer, a verified complaint to a state agency within 30 days, and no agency action within 120 days (§ 304.257). SB 140's DTPA hook sits alongside that route rather than replacing it.
It stacks with the federal rules
Nothing here displaces the federal TCPA or the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Texas adds one more stacking mechanism of its own: § 305.053 lets a person sue in a Texas court over a communication that violates the federal TCPA or its regulations, for the greater of $500 or actual damages. For the fee question the state law overview treats as decisive, note that the DTPA's fee provision (§ 17.50(d)) says a prevailing consumer shall be awarded fees.
What to actually do
Work out whether chapter 302 registration applies to your program, starting with the exemptions and with whether every text you send is consent-based. Scrub against the Texas no-call list on its quarterly cycle. Keep dialing inside the chapter 301 hours, and keep caller ID honest. Consent records and a working opt-out process carry the rest, as they do federally.
NumberBroom does none of the Texas-specific steps. It does not register sellers, does not scrub the Texas no-call list or the National DNC Registry, and does not capture consent. What it does is run carrier validation (line type, carrier, activity score) and TCPA litigator screening over a CSV in one job, removing and counting litigator matches, at $0.20 per number with a $5 minimum and no subscription. Check a number free, or see pricing.
Frequently asked questions
When did Texas SB 140 take effect?
1 September 2025 (SB 140, SECTION 7). SECTION 6 limits it to conduct on or after that date, so a text sent before September 2025 is judged under the old definitions.
Do I have to register with the Texas Secretary of State to send marketing texts?
It depends on consent and on the exemptions. Chapter 302 requires a seller making telephone solicitations from Texas or to a purchaser in Texas to hold a registration certificate for each business location (§ 302.101), with a $200 filing fee (§ 302.106) and $10,000 security (§ 302.107), renewed annually (§ 302.104).
For texts sent with the consumer's consent, the Secretary of State's own FAQ now says the registration statement is not required. That follows a federal suit, Ecommerce Marketers Alliance v. Texas, dismissed without prejudice on 17 November 2025 by an order reciting that businesses running consent-based text campaigns are not subject to chapter 302 registration. The order was entered on the parties' joint representations. It is not a contested ruling on the merits, and it addresses registration, not the no-call list.
What can a consumer recover under SB 140?
SB 140 did not set a new dollar figure. It routed violations into the DTPA. Chapter 302 already did that (§ 302.303); SB 140 added the same hook to the no-call chapter (§ 304.2581) and chapter 305 (§ 305.054). The DTPA remedy includes economic damages, up to three times that where the conduct was knowing (§ 17.50(b)(1)), and a prevailing consumer "shall be awarded" reasonable and necessary attorneys' fees (§ 17.50(d)). The DTPA's own conditions come with it, including a 60-day written pre-suit notice (§ 17.505(a)).
Separately, § 305.053 has long let a person sue in Texas over a communication that violates the federal TCPA: the greater of $500 or actual damages, up to the greater of $1,500 or three times actual damages if knowing or intentional.
What are the Texas telemarketing calling hours?
Under § 301.051(b)(2), after 9 a.m. and before 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and after noon and before 9 p.m. on Sunday. The rule covers unsolicited calls to residential numbers, with exceptions for calls the consumer asked for, calls about an existing debt or contract, and calls to someone with a prior or existing business relationship (§ 301.051(a)). SB 140 did not amend this chapter. See calling hours by state.
- S.B. 140, 89th Leg., R.S. -- enrolled bill text (Texas Legislature Online)
- S.B. 140 -- bill history, effective 9/1/25 (Texas Legislature Online)
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 302 -- Regulation of Telephone Solicitation
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 304 -- Texas Telemarketing Disclosure and Privacy Act
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 301 -- Telephone Solicitation Practices (calling hours)
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 305 -- Telephonic Communications Made for Purpose of Solicitation
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 17 -- Deceptive Trade Practices Act
- Ecommerce Marketers Alliance v. Texas, No. 1:25-cv-01401 (W.D. Tex.), Order of 17 Nov. 2025 (ECF 27)
- Texas Secretary of State -- Form 3400 Telephone Solicitation Registration FAQ