Washington Robocall Law: RCW 80.36 Rights, $1,000 Damages and Spam Text Claims

Washington has one of the strictest robocall bans

Most states require consent before a recorded sales call. Washington goes further. RCW 80.36.400(2) says “No person may use an automatic dialing and announcing device for purposes of commercial solicitation.” There is no written-consent exception in that sentence. The only limit is the definition: a commercial solicitation is the “unsolicited initiation” of a call to sell something or to wrongfully obtain something of value. It applies to every commercial solicitation “intended to be received by telephone customers within the state.”

An automatic dialing and announcing device is a system that automatically dials numbers and plays a recorded or artificial voice message. The current definition, last amended in 2023 (Laws 2023, ch. 103), says a message counts “even if the recorded or artificial message goes directly to a recipient’s voicemail” (RCW 80.36.400(1)(b)). That brings voicemail drops inside the ban. See our page on ringless voicemail for how federal law treats the same practice.

In its 2023 findings, the legislature said robocalls were increasingly used to mislead Washington residents into giving up personal information, and it expanded these sections to reach those calls.

Who else can be liable: the “assist” rule

The 2023 law also reaches the network. No person may “assist in the transmission” of a banned robocall (RCW 80.36.400(3)). That means giving substantial help while knowing, or consciously avoiding knowing, that the caller is breaking the Consumer Protection Act. Phone carriers have an affirmative defense if they followed federal robocall rules and ran a reasonably effective plan to stop illegal traffic. The legislature’s stated goal was to stop illegal calls before they “originate or enter the telephone network.”

Rules for live telemarketing calls

RCW 80.36.390 covers “telephone solicitation,” which includes calls by commercial and nonprofit organizations using a live person, artificial voice, or recorded message. Under it, a telephone solicitor must:

• Identify the caller, the organization, and the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds (80.36.390(3)).
• End the call within 10 seconds if you say you want to end it (80.36.390(6)).
• If you ask not to be called again, tell you your information will be removed for at least one year, hang up within 10 seconds, stop calling that number for at least one year, and not sell or give away your contact details (80.36.390(7)).
• Not call before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. your local time (80.36.390(8)). The federal cutoff is 9 p.m., so Washington is stricter.
• Not call a number on the federal do not call registry (80.36.390(9), added in 2023).
• Not spoof caller ID in violation of 47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1) (80.36.390(10)).

Exempt calls include calls you asked for, calls about something you bought from the company within the last 12 months, nonprofit and labor calls to their own members, polls, and business-to-business contacts.

How much you can recover in Washington

Note the word “repeated” in 80.36.390(13). One call that breaks the calling-hours rule probably is not enough for that claim. Two or more violations are the starting point. The fee award in 80.36.390(13) is mandatory for a prevailing plaintiff.

Spam texts and the 2026 damages change

Washington has barred unsolicited commercial texts since 2003. No one doing business in the state may send, or help send, a commercial text to a Washington resident’s cell number unless the person “clearly and affirmatively consented in advance” (RCW 19.190.060, 19.190.070). A violation is a per se Consumer Protection Act violation.

In 2026 the legislature changed the damages for these texts and for deceptive commercial email. RCW 19.190.040 now reads “$100, or actual damages, whichever is greater” (Laws 2026, ch. 135). The change applies to “all causes of action commenced on or after June 11, 2026, regardless of when the cause of action arose.” So a text received in 2025 but sued on after June 11, 2026 is valued under the new $100 figure. If you have a pending text claim filed before that date, the old rule may still apply to it. Read our spam text guide for the federal claims that may be worth more.

Stacking Washington law with the TCPA

The federal TCPA pays $500 per violation, or up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, and it does not preempt stricter state rules on prerecorded calls (47 U.S.C. 227(f)(1)). A Washington robocall case can include both. The state claim often matters more: $1,000 per unsolicited recorded sales call, under a ban that has no written-consent exception. Federal law still helps with text claims now that the state figure is $100.

No state list, so register federally

Washington does not keep a separate do not call list. Since 2023, RCW 80.36.390(9) makes it a state law violation to call a number on the federal registry. Register at donotcall.gov and keep the confirmation email. The Attorney General enforces these sections under the Consumer Protection Act (80.36.390(12)).

What to do next in Washington

If you get recorded sales calls, save the voicemails. Each one may be a $1,000 claim by itself. For live callers, note the time and whether they identified themselves in the first 30 seconds. If you told them to stop, write down the date, because any call within the next year breaks the removal rule. Our evidence and call log guide shows what to capture. For other states, see the state robocall law guide.