What Is Prior Express Written Consent?

Under the TCPA, autodialed or prerecorded calls require prior express written consent from the person being called, and every call, consent, and opt-out needs to be documented so the company can prove compliance if it is ever challenged. This sits inside the FTC's broader Telemarketing Sales Rule framework, which also governs calling hours, 8am to 9pm local time as a federal floor, and Do Not Call list compliance.

The stakes are real. TCPA violations carry fines up to $1,500 per call, which turns a single afternoon of uncompliant dialing into a meaningful liability. States layer additional rules on top of the federal floor: Texas SB 140 requires a $10,000 security bond as part of telemarketer registration, and Connecticut SB 1058 carries penalties up to $20,000 per violation while narrowing calling hours further, to 9am to 8pm local.

Any outbound calling program touching a roofing client's homeowners, whether it is an in-house canvassing team, a hired call center, or an outsourced virtual-assistant team, needs a documented consent trail behind every autodialed or prerecorded call it makes. Maine LD 2234 adds another layer, requiring a check of the FCC Reassigned Numbers Database before dialing, since calling a number that has been reassigned to someone who never gave consent is its own violation.