TCPA Statute of Limitations: 4 Years From Each Call

The short answer: four years, counted call by call

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, does not say how long you have to sue. When a federal law is silent, a separate statute fills the gap. That statute is 28 U.S.C. 1658(a):

“Except as otherwise provided by law, a civil action arising under an Act of Congress enacted after the date of the enactment of this section may not be commenced later than 4 years after the cause of action accrues.”

Section 1658 took effect on December 1, 1990. The TCPA was signed a year later, in December 1991. That timing matters. In Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (2004), the Supreme Court said section 1658 governs any claim “made possible by a post-1990 enactment.” A TCPA claim fits that description.

Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals applied exactly that reasoning in Worsham v. Fairfield Resorts (2009). A trial court had thrown out a prerecorded-call claim under Maryland’s three-year general deadline. The appeals court reversed: “The applicable time limit for filing a private cause of action under 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3) is four years.” The court noted that a few state courts had gone the other way before then. Three years later, the Supreme Court held in Mims v. Arrow Financial Services (2012) that private TCPA suits arise under federal law and can be filed in federal court. Since that is the test section 1658 uses, the four-year rule is now the standard answer.

How the clock runs for each call and text

The TCPA counts violations one at a time. Section 227(b)(3) lets you recover “$500 in damages for each such violation.” Section 227(c)(5) uses the same “each such violation” wording for Do Not Call claims. Because each call is its own violation, each call has its own four-year deadline, measured from the day it happened.

That produces a rolling window. If a company has called you for six years, the calls from the last four years are usually still actionable. The oldest two years of calls have probably expired. Waiting does not kill the whole case at once. It shaves off calls from the back end, month by month.

The exact last day depends on how the court where you file counts days and treats weekends and holidays. Treat the dates above as a guide, not a filing calendar.

The 12-month rule for Do Not Call claims is a different clock

People often mix these up. Section 227(c)(5) lets you sue only if you received “more than one telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity” in violation of the Do Not Call rules. That 12-month window is part of what you must prove. It is not the filing deadline.

So a Do Not Call claim has two time questions. First, did you get at least two violating calls from the same company inside some 12-month stretch? Second, are those calls still inside the four-year limitations period? A pair of calls from 2021 meets the first test but fails the second. A pair from this spring meets both.

Class actions can pause the deadline (American Pipe tolling)

If someone else filed a class action that covers your calls, your own deadline may have been paused while that case was pending. The rule comes from American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah (1974): “The commencement of a class action suspends the applicable statute of limitations as to all asserted members of the class who would have been parties” if the class had gone forward.

Two limits apply. First, the pause only helps you if you fit the class definition in that earlier complaint. A class of people who got prerecorded calls on cell phones does not cover your landline Do Not Call claim. Second, in China Agritech v. Resh (2018), the Supreme Court held that after class certification is denied, a class member “may not … commence a class action anew beyond the time allowed by the applicable statute of limitations.” Tolling can save your individual claim. It does not let you start a fresh class action late.

If you received a settlement notice, read the class definition and the release carefully. A settlement that covers your calls will typically release those claims unless you opt out by the stated deadline. Our guide to TCPA class actions explains opting out versus staying in.

State law deadlines are not the same

Many states have their own robocall and telemarketing statutes. Those claims follow state limitations rules, not section 1658. The Worsham court warned readers on this point: claims under Maryland’s own telephone statutes are governed by Maryland’s deadline, not the federal four-year rule, even where the Maryland law makes a TCPA violation a violation of state law too.

A state deadline can be shorter or longer than four years, and some state laws add pre-suit steps. Florida’s Telephone Solicitation Act, for example, requires a person who got unwanted marketing texts to reply “STOP” and allows suit only if texts continue more than 15 days later (Fla. Stat. 501.059(10)(c)). Check the rules for your state on our state autodialer and telemarketing law pages.

Other federal deadlines you may see cited

• FCC fines. Section 227(b)(4)(E) limits the government, not you. The FCC must issue its notice within 1 year for an ordinary robocall violation, or within 4 years if it charges an intentional violation.
• Caller ID spoofing. Section 227(e)(5)(A)(iv) gives the FCC 4 years to seek a forfeiture for spoofing.
• Telemarketing Sales Rule. The FTC’s rule is enforced under a different statute. A private suit under 15 U.S.C. 6104 must be filed within 3 years after you discover the violation, and only if actual damages exceed $50,000 per person. Most consumers never reach that threshold, which is why the TCPA is the usual tool.

What does not stop the clock

Nothing in section 1658 pauses the four years because you complained to the FCC, filed a report with the FTC, or registered your number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Those steps are worth doing, and the complaint record can help prove what happened. They are not lawsuits. The same goes for a company’s promise on the phone that it will “take you off the list.” If the calls continue, each new call starts a new four-year clock, but the old ones keep aging.

The practical deadline is often shorter than the legal one

Four years sounds like plenty of time. The evidence usually does not last that long. Phone carriers keep call detail records for limited periods. Screenshots get lost when you change phones. Voicemails get deleted. The spoofed number on your caller ID may be reassigned, and the lead generator behind the campaign may shut down or change names.

The strongest cases are built while the calls are still coming in. Start a written record now with our call and text evidence log, and save every voicemail and text as you get it.

What to do if your oldest calls are close to four years old

1. List every call and text by date, starting with the oldest. Mark any that fall within the next 60 days of the four-year line.
2. Check whether a class action already covers the caller. Search the company name and “TCPA settlement” or “class action.” A pending case may have paused your deadline.
3. Estimate what the timely calls are worth with the TCPA case value calculator. Count only calls inside the four-year window.
4. If older calls are about to expire, talk to a lawyer this month rather than next quarter. Our step-by-step guide on how to sue a telemarketer shows what filing involves.

If the calls are recent, you have time. Use it to gather proof, not to wait.