New York Robocall Law: GBL 399-z, the Do Not Call Registry and Your Right to Sue

New York’s list is the national registry

New York once ran its own no telemarketing sales calls registry. General Business Law 399-z(4) now authorizes the Department of State (DOS) to have the national registry “serve as the New York state no telemarketing sales calls statewide registry,” and the DOS rules moved New York numbers to the federal list. To get on New York’s list today, register at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to add. Registration does not expire.

Once your number has been on the registry for 31 days, a telemarketer may not make an unsolicited sales call to it (GBL 399-z(5)).

What GBL 399-z requires

• Hours: telemarketing only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. at your location, unless you agreed to another time (399-z(2)).
• Disclosures within 30 seconds: the caller’s name and the company it calls for, an offer to add you to the company’s own do-not-call list, whether the call is recorded, the purpose, and what is being sold. Since Chapter 539 of 2024, signed November 25, 2024, these must come “at the beginning but no later than thirty seconds” into the call.
• Texts count: Chapter 239 of 2021 added “electronic messaging text” to the law, so sales texts are telemarketing sales calls (399-z(1)).
• Prerecorded calls need written agreement: a telemarketer may not use a prerecorded message unless you signed an express written agreement naming the seller and your number, given after clear disclosure and not as a condition of purchase (399-z(6)).
• Automated opt-out: prerecorded calls must offer a voice or keypress option that adds you to the seller’s list and immediately ends the call (399-z(7), (8)).
• Caller ID: knowingly sending false or misleading caller ID is unlawful (399-z(2-a)).
• Emergencies: no unsolicited sales calls into an area under a declared state of emergency (399-z(5-a)).
• No sharing your details: a telemarketer may not share your name, number, or email without your written or electronic agreement (399-z(10)).

Calls you asked for, and calls tied to an established business relationship you have not ended, are not “unsolicited” (399-z(1)). DOS rules define that relationship as a purchase within the prior 18 months or an inquiry within the prior three months.

Who can sue in New York, and who cannot

This is where New York differs from Florida or Virginia. GBL 399-z does not give consumers a private lawsuit. Violations are handled by DOS in an administrative proceeding, with fines of up to $20,000 per violation (399-z(14)). The statute adds that nothing in it restricts rights a person has under other laws.

The private claim sits in a different section. GBL 399-p regulates automatic dialing-announcing devices, meaning equipment that stores numbers and plays a prerecorded message without an operator. A device must state the nature of the call and who it is for at the start, and give the address and phone number at the end. It may not use a random or sequential number generator. It may not call 911 lines, hospitals, or nursing homes. If you received a call that broke those rules, 399-p(9) lets you recover actual damages or $50, whichever is greater. A court can raise that to three times actual damages, up to $1,000, for a willful or knowing violation, and may award attorney fees to a winning plaintiff.

Fifty dollars will not justify a lawsuit on its own. In practice, New Yorkers bring the federal TCPA claim, worth $500 per violation or up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, and add state claims where they fit. See our explainer on the federal do not call rule for the “more than one call in 12 months” test.

Recent New York enforcement

DOS publishes its do-not-call consent orders. Two recent ones:

• loanDepot.com, LLC, DOS Case 2025-C-1210-01006: alleged calls to numbers on the national registry for 31 or more days, resolved with a $100,000 penalty.
• Power Home Remodeling Group, DOS Case 2025-C-041800: consent order dated August 4, 2026, alleging the same kind of registry violations, with a $55,000 civil penalty.

DOS lists more than 80 settlements since 2014 on its Do Not Call Registry page. These are agency settlements, not court findings.

Telemarketer registration and bonding

New York’s Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, GBL 399-pp, requires most telemarketers to register with the Secretary of State, pay a $500 fee, and post a $25,000 bond. The 2024 amendment also requires telemarketers to publish the address of the company they call for on their website and in later written communications. If a caller will not tell you who it works for, that is already a problem under 399-z and 399-pp.

How New York law stacks with the TCPA

For most New Yorkers, the federal TCPA is the main lawsuit. New York law adds three things. First, a DOS complaint can produce a fine even when your own claim is small. Second, the 30-second disclosure rule and the emergency-area ban give you facts that help show a willful federal violation. Third, 399-p adds a state claim for prerecorded calls. Read our page on prerecorded and AI voice calls for the federal consent rules.

Banville Law’s managing partner, Laurence Banville, is admitted to practice in New York.

What to do next in New York

File a complaint at donotcall.gov and with the FCC if you are on the registry and still get sales calls. Keep a log of each call with the time, the number, and whether the caller gave its name and purpose in the first 30 seconds. If a recording played, note what it said at the start and end. Our call log template helps. To see whether the federal claim is worth pursuing, try the case value calculator, then compare states on the state law hub.