Pest Control, HVAC, and Roofing: TCPA Risk in Renewal Calls
Spring is when pest control and HVAC companies call their customer lists about renewals and tune-ups. Most of those customers gave their number on a service agreement, which is a good starting point for a consent defense. The risk comes from what the call or text actually says, how old the relationship is, and who placed it. A company that can show what each customer agreed to, and when, usually has more defenses than a demand letter suggests.
Are renewal calls and texts to existing customers safe?
They’re safer than cold outreach, but not automatically safe. Two questions decide most disputes: did the customer give the number for this kind of contact, and is the message marketing?
On the first question, the FCC’s position is generous to businesses. Its 2015 order recited the Commission’s earlier statement that “persons who knowingly release their phone numbers have in effect given their invitation or permission to be called at the number which they have given, absent instructions to the contrary.” The same paragraph of FCC 15-72 added that “the scope of consent must be determined upon the facts of each situation.” So a customer who writes a cell number on a service plan has given some permission, and the dispute is about how far it reaches.
On the second question, the FCC defines telemarketing as “the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services,” in 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(13). A reminder that a scheduled treatment is tomorrow isn’t that. A call offering to renew next year’s plan, or to upsell a service, can be. I’d treat renewal outreach as marketing unless a lawyer has looked at the script.
A Fifth Circuit appeal, Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control of TX, Inc., No. 24-20379 (5th Cir. Feb. 25, 2026), affirmed summary judgment for a pest-control company on prerecorded renewal-inspection calls because the customer had given prior express consent, and I wrote about it in the earlier post on oral consent for prerecorded calls. It binds only the Fifth Circuit, so a California business shouldn’t rely on it as a rule.
What does the established business relationship cover?
It covers former customers for a limited time. Under § 64.1200(f)(5), an established business relationship is based on “the subscriber’s purchase or transaction with the entity within the eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the date of the telephone call” or an inquiry “within the three months immediately preceding the date of the call.” A customer who finished a one-time roof repair two years ago is outside the window. A customer who signed an annual pest plan last summer is inside it.
The relationship ends early on request. The same definition says that a seller-specific do-not-call request “terminates an established business relationship for purposes of telemarketing and telephone solicitation even if the subscriber continues to do business with the seller.” For a home services company, that means a homeowner who tells a technician to stop the calls, and who keeps the quarterly service, has still ended your right to call about renewals under the Registry rule.
The rule also limits when you can call. Telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber can’t be made “before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location),” per § 64.1200(c)(1). Dispatch systems that schedule outreach by the office’s time zone can miss a customer who has moved.
What happens when a call center makes the calls?
You’re responsible for what your vendor does in your name. The FCC’s marketing rule reaches a company that will “initiate, or cause to be initiated” a covered call, per § 64.1200(a)(2), and a company that hires someone to place renewal calls has caused them to be initiated. If a vendor places the calls, assume the claim is against you.
The internal do-not-call rules assign the risk plainly. Under § 64.1200(d)(3), “If such requests are recorded or maintained by a party other than the person or entity on whose behalf the call is made, the person or entity on whose behalf the call is made will be liable for any failures to honor the do-not-call request.” If your answering service or dialer vendor keeps the list, your company answers for its mistakes.
What does California add for home services texts?
California restricts text advertisements to California residents but includes an exception for businesses with an existing relationship. Under Business and Professions Code § 17538.41, the restriction “shall not apply to text messages transmitted by a business, candidate, or political committee that has an existing relationship with the subscriber if the subscriber is offered an option not to receive text messages from that business, candidate, or political committee.” A current customer with a working opt-out fits. A neighbor who got a mailer doesn’t.
| Message | Likely category | What protects you |
|---|---|---|
| A reminder that the technician arrives tomorrow | Informational | Number given on the service agreement |
| A message that it’s time to renew the annual plan | Probably marketing | Relationship within 18 months, opt-out, time of day |
| A spring special sent to past customers | Marketing | Last-service date for each recipient, scrubbed list |
| Text to a number from an old lead form | Marketing | Date of the inquiry and who entered the number |
How should a seasonal campaign be built?
Start from the list, not the message. Pull every recipient’s last-service date and the date and source of the number, then drop anyone outside the relationship window who hasn’t given separate permission. That one filter removes most of the exposure, and it’s cheap to run before each campaign.
Next, schedule by the customer’s time zone, not the office’s. Then make the opt-out work across every channel the company uses: a stop reply to a text, a request to a technician, a note on a billing call. The most common failure I’d expect in a business of this kind is a customer who tells the technician at the door to stop the calls, and a back office that never hears about it. The technician heard the request, so the company heard it. Give field staff a way to log opt-outs the same day.
Finally, keep each campaign’s list as sent, with the filter dates, so you can show what the audience looked like on the day. A list rebuilt after the fact from the current database will include people who joined or left since.
What to gather when a renewal-call claim arrives
- Pull the service agreement or form where the customer gave the number, with the date.
- Export the call or text log for the number: date, time in the customer’s time zone, who or what placed the contact, and the script or template.
- Pull any stop or opt-out request, in whatever channel it came, with the date it arrived.
- Find the vendor contract and the vendor’s call records if an outside company placed the calls.
- Wait to respond to a demand letter or contact the customer until a lawyer has reviewed the file.
The firm’s California TCPA defense page describes how these claims move through court. For related reading, see the earlier post on solar and home improvement leads, which covers lead-based appointment setting.
Questions home services companies ask about calls and texts
Can we text customers about next year’s service plan?
If the customer gave the number, has not opted out, and is within the relationship window, you have a defense. The text is probably marketing, so quiet hours and the internal do-not-call list apply.
Do technician “on the way” texts count as marketing?
Usually not. A message that tells a customer about an appointment is informational. Keep promotions out of it, because adding an offer can change the category.
Are calls to a former customer from three years ago safe?
No. The relationship window is limited, and a call outside it needs another basis such as the customer’s permission. Remove old customers from marketing lists on a schedule.
Does a technician’s request to stop count as a stop request to the company?
Yes, in my view. The company acts through its technicians, so a customer who tells one to stop the calls has told the company. Whether a court would treat a verbal request to a field employee as a reasonable method is a question I’d rather not test, so log those requests and suppress the number.
What if the customer’s spouse signed the agreement?
Consent depends on who gave the number and for what purpose. Check whose number it is and record how you got it, since a spouse’s agreement may not cover the other spouse’s phone.
Defending claims by home services customers
If your company has been sued or received a demand letter over renewal calls or seasonal texts, the service agreement, the opt-out history, and the vendor’s records will drive the defense. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents businesses defending TCPA lawsuits and class actions through its business litigation practice, including claims involving service-plan renewal calls and texts. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a free and confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.
Sources
The statute is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act at 47 U.S.C. § 227. The FCC’s rules are at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, as published in the eCFR on April 1, 2026. The FCC order is FCC 15-72 (July 10, 2015), and California’s text-advertising statute is Bus. & Prof. Code § 17538.41.
This post is general information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related laws as of April 1, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Courts and the FCC change the rules in this area often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.