Once your number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry for about a month, most telemarketers can no longer make sales calls to it. The main exceptions are when you gave written permission or recently did business with the company. If the same company calls you more than once in a year in violation of the rules, federal law may let you sue for up to $500 per call.
What the Do Not Call Law Prohibits
The National Do Not Call Registry is a list of phone numbers. The law that gives it force is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), along with rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission. The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule adds a similar ban. Together, these rules bar companies from making telephone solicitations to residential numbers listed on the Registry.
The keyword is solicitation. Under the TCPA, a telephone solicitation is a call meant to encourage you to buy, rent, or invest in goods, property, or services. The Registry targets sales calls. It is not a general block on every call you do not want.
How Long Before Do Not Call Registration Takes Effect
Telemarketers do not have to check the Registry before every call. Instead, they must work from a copy of the Registry that is no more than 31 days old. That is why the FTC tells consumers that a new number appears on the Registry almost right away, but sales calls may take up to a month to stop.
In practice, a sales call a week or two after you register is probably not a violation. A sales call well past the one-month mark probably is, unless an exception applies.
Your registration does not expire. The FTC removes a number only if it is disconnected and reassigned or if you ask to have it removed.
How Many Calls You Need to Sue Under the TCPA
A single Do Not Call violation is not enough to file a lawsuit. The TCPA gives a right to sue only to someone who received more than one violating call within a 12-month period from or on behalf of the same company.
- Two or more calls. One call does not qualify. Two violating calls from the same company within any rolling 12 months does.
- Same company. The calls must come from, or be made for, the same business. Calls from two different call centers selling for the same insurer can both count against that insurer if both were made on its behalf.
- Any 12-month period. The window rolls. It is not tied to the calendar year, so calls in November and the following February count together.
Once you meet that threshold, each violating call may be worth up to $500. A court can increase that amount up to three times if it finds the company acted willfully or knowingly. Our TCPA penalties page walks through how damages are calculated.
Do Not Call Exceptions: Who Can Still Legally Call You
Some callers can still reach a registered number. The main exceptions are:
| Exception | What it generally requires |
|---|---|
| Written permission | You signed a written agreement (electronic signatures count) saying this seller may call you at a specific number. |
| Recent purchase | You bought something from or did business with the seller within roughly the last year and a half. |
| Recent inquiry | You asked about or applied for the seller’s products within the last few months. |
| Personal relationship | The caller is a family member, friend, or acquaintance. |
| Tax-exempt nonprofit | Calls by or for a tax-exempt nonprofit generally are not treated as telephone solicitations. |
The FTC also says the Registry does not block political calls, charitable calls, debt-collection calls, purely informational calls, or surveys. The catch is that none of these calls can include a sales pitch. A “survey” that ends with an offer to buy something is a sales call. And even when a charity is exempt from the Registry, a for-profit telemarketer calling on its behalf generally must still honor your direct request to stop calling.
Limits on the Established Business Relationship Exception
The business relationship exception is narrower than many callers claim. It applies only to the specific company you dealt with. It usually does not extend to affiliates unless you would reasonably expect them to be included. It also ends as soon as you tell that company to stop calling, even if you keep doing business with it.
The Telemarketer “Good Faith Error” Defense
A company may avoid liability for a Registry call it can show was a mistake, but only if it had real compliance systems in place. Those generally include written Do Not Call procedures, staff training, an internal do-not-call list, regular scrubbing against a current copy of the Registry, and its own paid access to the Registry. The TCPA also provides companies with a defense if they exercised reasonable care to prevent violations.
Repeated calls after you asked a company to stop are hard to explain away as an honest error.
Does the Do Not Call Registry Cover Cell Phones and Texts?
Yes, for cell phones. You can register a cell number, and the FTC treats it the same as any other registered number. FCC rules apply Do Not Call protections to wireless numbers. Business lines are different. The FTC says business numbers and fax lines are not covered.
Texts are a developing area. In Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (July 2026), the Seventh Circuit ruled that the TCPA’s Do Not Call private right of action covers telephone calls but not text messages. If you live in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin, you generally cannot bring a federal Do Not Call lawsuit over marketing texts. Voice calls to your cell phone are not affected. Claims over autodialed texts under a separate part of the TCPA also remain available, and other courts have treated texts as calls under that provision. Outside the Seventh Circuit, whether you can sue over Do Not Call texts depends on the court. See our text message rules page and our report on the Steidinger decision.
Company-Specific Do Not Call Lists: Your Right to Say “Stop Calling”
The national Registry is only half the law. Every company that makes telemarketing calls must also keep its own internal do-not-call list. When you tell a caller “put me on your do-not-call list,” the rules require the company to:
- have a written do-not-call policy available on request,
- train everyone who makes calls,
- record your name and number when you make the request,
- honor your request promptly, within ten business days at most,
- keep honoring it for five years, and
- identify the caller, the company, and a way to contact the company on every call.
This rule does not depend on the national Registry. Even if you never registered your number, a sales call from the same company more than 10 business days after you said “stop” can be a violation. Two of those in a 12-month period may support a lawsuit. A company also cannot make you sit through a sales pitch, call a different number, or pay a fee before it records your request.
Why You Still Get Spam Calls After Joining the Do Not Call List
The FTC is direct about this: the Registry does not stop scammers who are already breaking the law. It only stops calls from companies that follow the rules. Consumers often report sales calls about auto warranties, Medicare plans, solar panels, and debt relief that show spoofed or rotating caller IDs.
That does not mean you have no options. Many of these calls trace back to a real company that buys the leads. If you stay on the line long enough to learn who is selling, or if you receive a follow-up email, text, or contract, you can often identify the seller. A seller can be held responsible for calls made on its behalf. Our page on illegal telemarketer calls covers the most common schemes.
What the Do Not Call Registry Does Not Do
- It does not block calls. Your phone will still ring.
- It does not cover every caller. Political calls, charity calls, surveys, debt collection calls, and informational calls without a sales pitch are not covered.
- It does not cover business numbers.
- It does not replace robocall consent rules. A prerecorded sales call to your phone generally requires your prior written consent, whether or not you are registered.
- It is not a lawsuit. Reporting a call at DoNotCall.gov helps enforcement, but it does not recover money for you.
How to Document a Do Not Call Violation Claim
- Confirm your registration date. Calls generally count only after the first month.
- Log every sales call. Note the date, time, number shown, and company name. Ask who they are calling for.
- Say “put me on your do-not-call list.” Write down the date. That starts the clock on the company’s internal list obligation.
- Keep tracking. You need at least two calls from the same company within 12 months. Use our call evidence log to keep records organized.
- Identify unknown callers. If you cannot name the company yet, see our guide to identifying an unknown caller.
Do Not Call Registry FAQs
Why am I still getting calls after registering on the Do Not Call list?
Legitimate telemarketers have up to about a month to remove your number. Some callers also fall under exceptions, such as charities, political campaigns, surveys, or companies you recently did business with. The FTC says calls that continue after that are often from scammers who ignore the Registry.
How many calls do I need to sue for a Do Not Call violation?
More than one call from or on behalf of the same company within any 12-month period. Each violating call may be worth up to $500, or more if the violation was willful or knowing.
Does the Do Not Call Registry apply to cell phones?
Yes. You can register a cell phone, and the FCC Do Not Call protections apply to wireless numbers. Business lines are not covered.
Does my Do Not Call registration expire?
No. The FTC says registration does not expire. A number is removed only if it is disconnected and reassigned, or if you request its removal.
Can the company I bought from still call me?
Usually, yes, if your purchase or inquiry was recent enough. That changes once you tell the company to stop calling. A stop request ends the business relationship exception for telemarketing.