State Law
The Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act (VTPPA)
What is the Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act?
Short answerThe VTPPA (Va. Code § 59.1-510 et seq.) is Virginia's telemarketing statute. It limits solicitations to 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the contacted person's location, requires caller identification, and makes a do-not-call request binding for at least 10 years. Since 1 January 2026 it expressly covers text messages, with a reply of STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE counting as the request. A consumer can sue for $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second and $5,000 for each one after that, and the court may add attorney fees (§ 59.1-515).
On this page
Virginia's statute has been on the books since 2001, and for most of that time it read like a standard calling-rules law. Two things make it worth a closer look now: a 2025 amendment that pulled marketing texts squarely inside it from 1 January 2026, and a damages provision that climbs to $5,000 per violation once a solicitor repeats itself.
What counts as a telephone solicitation
Under § 59.1-510, a telephone solicitation is a call or text made to offer or advertise property, goods or services for sale, lease, licence or investment, including credit. It reaches:
- a call to a natural person's residence in Virginia, to any landline or wireless phone with a Virginia area code, or to a phone registered to a Virginia resident; and
- a text message to a wireless phone with a Virginia area code or registered to a Virginia resident.
The definition also covers calls made to commit fraud, including spoofing false caller-ID information. The text-message limb is the 2026 addition. Before SB 1339 the chapter spoke of "telephone solicitation calls"; the amendment rewrote sections 59.1-510 through 59.1-514.1 around "telephone solicitations" and a "contacted person" so that texts carry the same obligations as calls.
The rules
| Provision | Requirement |
|---|---|
| § 59.1-511 | No solicitation outside 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time at the contacted person's location, unless that person gave prior consent. Applies to texts as well as calls. |
| § 59.1-512 | On a call, the caller gives first and last name and the name of the seller, promptly. |
| § 59.1-513 | Transmit a telephone number (and a name where the carrier supports it) that accepts do-not-call requests during business hours. No blocking and no misleading caller ID. For a text, a number that accepts a reply opt-out satisfies this. |
| § 59.1-513.1 | If no live representative is on the line within two seconds of the greeting, play a recorded message naming the seller and giving a do-not-call number. |
| § 59.1-514(A) | Honour a request not to be contacted for at least 10 years. For texts, the request is a reply of STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE. |
| § 59.1-514(B) | No solicitations to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. |
| § 59.1-514.1 | Seller and telephone solicitor are jointly and severally liable. |
| § 59.1-515 | Private action: $500 / $1,000 / $5,000 for first, second and each later violation; willful first or second violation up to $5,000; attorney fees and costs at the court's discretion. |
The do-not-call rules in § 59.1-514 carry three exemptions, set out in subsection (D): a signed written agreement that names the number, an established business relationship (a purchase or transaction in the last 18 months, or an inquiry or application in the last 3 months) and a personal relationship. The last two end the moment the person asks not to be contacted. Those exemptions are written "for purposes of this section" only; they do not switch off the calling-hours or caller-ID rules.
The damages ladder rewards repeat behaviour
Most statutes price every violation the same. Virginia's does not: the third and every later violation is worth $5,000 to the consumer, ten times the first. A campaign that keeps texting a number after a STOP reply is the exact pattern the ladder punishes, and small claims court is an available venue (§ 59.1-515(D)).
The one built-in defense
Section 59.1-514(C) gives an affirmative defense to do-not-call claims, and only those: the defendant must show it established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to prevent the violation, including use of a version of the National Do Not Call Registry obtained no more than 31 days before the solicitation. A registry download from last quarter does not qualify, and neither does a policy nobody followed.
Prerecorded messages are a separate chapter
Virginia regulates automatic dialing-announcing devices in Chapter 44.1, not in the VTPPA. A device that selects and dials numbers and plays a recorded or synthesized voice may not be used for a commercial telephone solicitation unless the subscriber consented or a live operator first discloses who is calling and why and obtains consent (§ 59.1-518.2). The device must disconnect within five seconds of hang-up (§ 59.1-518.3), and violations are enforced under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (§ 59.1-518.4).
It stacks with the federal TCPA
Section 59.1-518 says the chapter limits no remedy available under other federal or state law. A marketing text to a Virginia mobile after a STOP reply can therefore be pleaded under the VTPPA and under the federal revocation rules at the same time. Note the difference in shape: the federal rules set a deadline for honouring an opt-out, while Virginia sets how long it lasts.
What to actually do
- Suppression list. Store every Virginia do-not-call and
STOP/UNSUBSCRIBEreply for at least 10 years, keyed on the number, and apply it to calls and texts alike. - Registry. Scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry using a download no older than 31 days, and keep the evidence, because that is the substance of the § 59.1-514(C) defense.
- Sending numbers. Every number that sends a marketing text must accept a reply opt-out; every calling number must accept do-not-call requests during business hours.
- Schedule. Send only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. in the contacted person's location. Virginia's window matches the federal one, and the full picture is on calling hours by state.
- Vendors. Because liability is joint and several, a lead vendor's suppression failures are yours. Contract for the records.
NumberBroom does not do any of the above. It does not scrub the National Do Not Call Registry or your internal suppression list, does not process STOP replies and does not send texts. What it does is the step before them: upload a CSV and each number gets carrier-level validation (line type, carrier and activity score) and a TCPA litigator screen in one job, with litigator matches removed and counted. $0.20 per number with lower rates above 2,000 rows, a $5 minimum and no subscription. Check a number free, or see pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What are the damages under the VTPPA?
Under § 59.1-515(A), a natural person aggrieved by a violation can recover $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second and $5,000 for each subsequent violation. Under (B), if the violation was willful the court may raise the award for a first or second violation to not more than $5,000. Under (C), the court may also award reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
The claim can be brought in general district court or small claims court within their jurisdictional limits (§ 59.1-515(D)), which keeps the cost of suing low.
Does the VTPPA apply to text messages?
Yes, expressly, since 1 January 2026. SB 1339 (2025 Acts ch. 626) added text messages to the definition of a telephone solicitation in § 59.1-510, so the calling-hours rule, the identification rules and the do-not-call rules now reach marketing texts to Virginia numbers.
For a text, the do-not-call request is a reply of STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE (§ 59.1-514(A)), and the number the text comes from satisfies the identification rule if it accepts that reply (§ 59.1-513(A)).
How long must a Virginia do-not-call request be honoured?
At least 10 years from the time the request is made (§ 59.1-514(A)). That is the retention period for your internal suppression list on Virginia numbers, and it survives an established business relationship: the EBR and personal-relationship exemptions stop applying once the person has asked not to be contacted (§ 59.1-514(D)).
Does it apply if my business is not in Virginia?
The test is the number, not the caller. A solicitation is covered if it goes to a Virginia residence, to any phone with a Virginia area code, or to a phone registered to a Virginia resident (§ 59.1-510). A Virginia resident who kept an out-of-state mobile number is covered, and so is a Virginia area code carried by someone who moved away.
Is the seller liable for a vendor's calls?
Yes. Under § 59.1-514.1, the seller and the telephone solicitor are jointly and severally liable for violations of the hours, identification, caller-ID and do-not-call sections. A solicitation offering the seller's goods is presumed to be made on its behalf, whether or not there is an agency relationship, and the seller can rebut that only by clear and convincing evidence that it did not retain the vendor and did not know. Buying leads or outsourcing the dialling does not move the risk off your books.
- Va. Code §§ 59.1-510 to 59.1-518.01 -- Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act (Code of Virginia)
- SB 1339 (2025), Acts of Assembly Chapter 626 -- telephone solicitations via text message (Virginia LIS)
- Va. Code §§ 59.1-518.1 to 59.1-518.4 -- Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices (Code of Virginia)
- 47 U.S.C. § 227 -- federal TCPA (Cornell LII)