Batch TCPA Litigator Scrub

Most compliance spending goes toward avoiding violations. A batch litigator scrub is different: it is aimed at the small population that turns violations into money. They are not a random slice of your list -- they are the reason a technically minor mistake becomes a five-figure claim. If you are dialling a skip-traced list of a few thousand rows, this is the check with the most money attached to a miss.

How a batch litigator scrub works

1. Upload. CSV, TSV, Excel or PDF, up to 10,000 rows. The phone column is detected automatically and every number is normalised to E.164, so the same line written five ways is screened once rather than five times.
2. Cross-reference. Each number is checked fresh against a litigator database refreshed daily from federal and state court filings in TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA and CFPB cases. In the same pass, carrier-level validation returns line type and carrier -- the two checks run in parallel, not sequentially.
3. Download. Matches are removed, and on the full scrub so are landlines, VoIP and disconnected numbers. You get back a dialler-ready CSV of the surviving numbers with line type, carrier and activity score appended and every original column preserved, plus the removed rows with their reasons, the litigator matches in a file of their own, and a dated screening record showing how many rows were removed and why.

You see the row count and exact cost before paying. No subscription, no integration work, and no minimum row count -- just a $5 minimum charge on very small lists.

What it checks and what comes back

A scrub is only as useful as the file it hands back, so here is exactly what each route returns.

Note what the delivered file does not contain: a litigator column. Matches are removed rather than flagged, because a row you cannot legally afford to dial is not a row you want sitting in a dialler-ready file waiting for someone to filter it. On the full scrub, landlines, VoIP lines and disconnected numbers come out in the same pass for the same reason. What you get instead is the count, a record of it, and the matched rows in a file of their own, kept apart from the rows you will dial.

Keep your landlines: litigators only

The full scrub is built for mobile campaigns, so it removes landlines, VoIP and disconnected numbers along with litigators. That is the wrong file if your team dials landlines by hand -- a skip-traced owner list, a B2B list, an aged seller list where the landline is the best number you have.

Choose Litigators only on the upload card and only known litigators come out, along with any number that is not a valid phone number. Every other answered row stays, landlines, VoIP and disconnected numbers included, with line_type, carrier and activity_score appended so you can order the dial yourself. It runs the same lookup, so it costs the same: $0.20 a number, $5 minimum, graduated past 2,000 rows.

• For: teams dialing landlines manually, B2B callers, and anyone whose dialer or CRM already handles line type.
• Not for: SMS campaigns. Texts need a mobile-only list, which is what the full scrub delivers.
• Not a Do Not Call scrub on its own. A landline you keep can still be on the Do Not Call Registry or a state list, and is still subject to calling-hour rules. Registry matches come out only when the federal check runs: signed in, under your own SAN, on lists of up to 1,000 numbers.

Upload a list with litigators only selected. The first 20 rows preview free before you pay.

Why they pass every other check

This is the part that catches teams out. A serial filer's number is a real, active mobile line on a major carrier. It validates. It has a clean line type. It is deliverable. Every quality signal you would normally use says it is one of the better records in your file.

Practitioners who defend these claims describe a consistent operating pattern:

• Seeding. Numbers are deliberately entered into lead-generation forms, quote-comparison sites and contest entries, so they enter the lead economy and get resold into purchased lists.
• Multiple lines. Maintaining many numbers multiplies the opportunities, and cheap VoIP makes lines trivial to acquire. That is why the database tracks litigators as people: other numbers tied to a known litigator are matched too, not only the numbers named in a case.
• Meticulous records. Every call logged with time, caller ID and content -- often documented better than the caller's own consent records.
• Absence from the DNC registry. Registering would reduce inbound calls, which defeats the purpose.

That last point is why a DNC-only process is actively misleading. It removes the people who asked not to be called and retains the people who want to be called so they can sue.

Run it from code or from an AI agent

The same check is available one number at a time. POST /v1/verify returns line type, carrier, an activity score and the litigator flag as isLitigator, at $0.20 a call against pre-paid credit with a $10 minimum top-up -- the rate a CSV row costs in its first 2,000 rows -- the same product through a different door, without the volume bands. A number that cannot be parsed is a successful answer and is not charged. See the developer documentation.

There is also an MCP server at numberbroom.com/mcp. It lets Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client that can send an API key header screen a number as a tool call, which is the practical way to put a litigator check inside an agent that is already qualifying leads.

Two boundaries worth stating plainly. There is no batch lookup endpoint -- for a list, upload the file or send the numbers to POST /v1/lists, which runs the list scrub and returns a card checkout link, or make one call per number concurrently. And a one-number lookup never checks the National Do Not Call Registry, whether through /v1/verify or the MCP server; every such response carries dncEvaluated: false so an integration never has to infer coverage it has not got. The federal registry check runs only on a list scrub, uploaded or sent to POST /v1/lists, for a customer whose own SAN we have verified, on lists of up to 1,000 numbers.

The screening record is half the value

The output file is what you dial. The screening record is what you produce later.

Every completed job writes a Record of compliance screening -- available at /certificate/{jobId} in your dashboard -- naming the file, the rows submitted, the rows screened, the date, and how many were removed as litigators, as landlines or VoIP, as disconnected, as not a valid number and, if you keep one, as on your own do-not-call list. A number that is not valid is removed without the litigator check and is not counted as screened. A litigators-only record lists line-type removal under checks not performed, so a zero never reads as "checked, none found".

Being able to show that a list was screened against a litigator database on a specific date, before any dial, is a materially different position from arguing that your process would have caught it. Statutory damages may be trebled for willful or knowing violations. A dated screening record is evidence of a deliberate compliance process, though a willfulness finding turns on what you knew, about consent above all, which no screen can show. It is worth keeping even for the numbers that passed.

What it does not do

We would rather set this out plainly than have you discover it later.

It covers more than TCPA filers: numbers tied to FDCPA and FCRA suits, and to CFPB cases, are matched too. Within that coverage, these are the limits.

• It is not a guarantee. The check scans court filings for the phones used in litigation, and no database catches every litigator: first-time filers are not in any database, and a number can be missed. This reduces exposure; it does not remove it.
• It does not say which law. A match can come from a TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA or CFPB case, and the check does not report which.
• It is not a full Do Not Call scrub. A signed-in paid list scrub, uploaded or sent to POST /v1/lists, adds a federal Do Not Call Registry check, under your own FTC subscription (SAN), included free on lists of up to 1,000 numbers. It does not cover state lists, larger lists, guest checkout or a one-number API lookup, and the obligation to scrub at least every 31 days stays yours as the seller. Your own do-not-call list is separate: numbers you add in Settings are removed from every list you scrub while signed in, before anything is looked up, and you are not charged for them. See the registry entry.
• It is not consent. No external file can tell you whether you have permission to call someone. Documented prior express written consent is a record only you can hold.
• It does not cover reassignment. A number that changed hands since consent was given is a separate problem -- see the Reassigned Numbers Database.
• It is not a bulk lookup API. There is no batch lookup endpoint. A list goes through a file upload or POST /v1/lists, which runs the same list scrub and is paid by card, never from API credit.

A litigator scrub is one control among several. It happens to be the one with the most money attached to a miss.

State statutes raise the stakes

Federal damages are not the whole exposure. Several states have their own telemarketing statutes with separate private rights of action, so a single call can be pleaded under federal and state law at once. Florida's additionally lets the prevailing party recover attorney fees, which is a large part of why it generates so many filings. See state mini-TCPA laws.

The filers know exactly which states those are.

Checking one number? The free carrier lookup includes the litigator check, up to 5 numbers a day. For a list, see bulk pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Cameron Hoffman

Founder, NumberBroom · 10 years in telecommunications and marketing

Cameron Hoffman is the founder of NumberBroom and has spent 10 years working in telecommunications and marketing. He built NumberBroom after repeatedly watching outbound teams dial purchased lists that were full of dead numbers, landlines and TCPA litigators.