Telemarketer Registration: Florida, Washington, and Texas Rules

Several states require businesses that sell by phone to register before calling their residents, wherever the business is located. Florida requires a commercial telephone seller license with a security deposit of at least $50,000. Washington requires commercial telephone solicitors to register before doing business, and the statute says an unregistered solicitor may not maintain or defend a lawsuit there. Texas requires a registration certificate and $10,000 in security, and since September 2025 its definition of telephone solicitation includes texts. All three have exemptions worth checking before a campaign starts.

Does a state’s registration law apply to a business in another state?

Usually, yes. All three states define doing business by where the customer is.

Florida says a commercial telephone seller must obtain a license “Before doing business in this state,” and that “Doing business in this state includes either telephone solicitation from a location in Florida or solicitation from other states or nations of purchasers located in Florida,” under Fla. Stat. § 501.605(1).

Washington’s rule is the same in substance: “Doing business in this state includes both commercial telephone solicitation from a location in Washington and solicitation of purchasers located in Washington,” under RCW 19.158.050(1). Texas bars a seller from making a telephone solicitation “from a location in this state or to a purchaser located in this state unless the seller holds a registration certificate for the business location from which the telephone solicitation is made,” under Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 302.101(a).

Our post on state mini-TCPAs covers the consent and calling-hours rules that travel with these registration laws.

What does Florida require?

A license, a security deposit, and attention to which rules still apply to exempt sellers.

The application must be accompanied by a bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit, and “The amount of the bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit must be a minimum of $50,000,” under § 501.611(2). Florida treats unlicensed selling seriously: “No commercial telephone seller or salesperson shall solicit without a license,” and a person who violates that provision “commits a felony of the third degree,” under § 501.623(3).

Florida’s exemptions in § 501.604 are long, but they come with a catch. The statute says the part’s provisions don’t apply to the exempt categories, except § 501.608 and subsections (6) and (7) of § 501.616. Section 501.616(6) is the rule barring commercial solicitation calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. and more than three calls in 24 hours on the same subject. An exempt seller still has to follow it. The definition of commercial telephone seller also excludes a person “operating under a valid affidavit of exemption filed with the department,” under § 501.603, so some exempt businesses have a filing to make too.

What does Washington require?

Registration before doing business, with a consequence that matters in litigation.

Under RCW 19.158.050(1), “In order to maintain or defend a lawsuit or do any business in this state, a commercial telephone solicitor must be registered with the department of licensing.” Read literally, that reaches a company’s ability to defend itself in a Washington case. I’d treat that sentence as the strongest reason in this post to check registration status before calling into Washington, because the cost of curing a lapse after a suit is filed is uncertain and the argument gives a plaintiff an early advantage. An unregistered solicitor sued in Washington should expect the plaintiff to raise it, and should consider registering promptly.

Washington defines commercial telephone solicitation to include “An unsolicited telephone call” made “for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase or invest in property, goods, or services,” under RCW 19.158.020. The definition of commercial telephone solicitor excludes, among others, “A person soliciting business solely from purchasers who have previously purchased from the business enterprise for which the person is calling,” and supervised financial institutions. A violation of the chapter “is an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act,” under RCW 19.158.030.

What does Texas require, and what changed in 2025?

A registration certificate for each calling location, $10,000 in security, and now coverage of texts.

A seller must file a registration statement with the secretary of state, and it “must be accompanied by security that: (1) is in the amount of $10,000,” under § 302.107. Senate Bill 140, effective September 1, 2025, rewrote the definition of telephone solicitation to mean “a call or other transmission, including a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image, initiated by a seller or salesperson to induce a person to purchase, rent, claim, or receive an item.” S.B. 140 also added a provision that a claimant’s repeated recoveries under the chapter “may not limit recovery in a future legal proceeding in any manner,” under § 302.003(b). Our post on Texas SB 140 covers that change.

The Texas statute exempts a person who “is soliciting business from a former or current customer” and “has operated under the same business name for at least two years,” under § 302.058. The burden is on the business under the Texas statute: “a person who claims an exemption from the application of this chapter has the burden of proving the exemption,” under § 302.051(a). Under the same Texas statute, violations carry a civil penalty “of not more than $5,000 for each violation” under § 302.302(a), and a violation “is a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice” under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, under § 302.303(a).

How should a company that calls nationally keep track?

With a short matrix, owned by one person, and reviewed whenever the pitch changes.

In my view, the mistake isn’t usually ignorance of a statute. It’s a campaign that starts as an exempt existing-customer program and quietly turns into prospecting when a marketing team buys a list or adds a new offer. Each of these laws depends on who is being called and what is being sold, so a change in either can change the answer. I’d keep a one-page chart listing every state the company calls into, whether it registered or relies on an exemption, the exemption’s exact conditions, and the renewal and bond expiration dates. Then I’d require sign-off on that chart before any new list or offer goes live. When a demand letter arrives, that chart is also the first document a defense lawyer will ask for.

Registration requirements side by side

Federal exposure runs alongside under 47 U.S.C. § 227: $500 or actual loss, whichever is greater, under subsection (b)(3), up to $500 under (c)(5) for more than one call in 12 months, and up to $1,500 if the court finds a violation willful or knowing.

Getting ready if a registration issue surfaces in a TCPA case

The firm’s TCPA defense lawyers page covers how state-law claims are paired with federal TCPA counts in California cases. When one does:

1. Preserve the call and text logs, consent records, and platform data for the calls into each state, under a litigation hold.
2. Export opt-out and internal do-not-call records with dates.
3. Pull National Do Not Call Registry scrub records, and any state-list scrub records, with version dates.
4. Collect each state’s registration filings and bonds, along with any exemption affidavits, plus scripts, vendor agreements, and customer purchase histories that support any exemption.
5. Talk to a lawyer before responding to the claim, contacting the consumer, or filing late registrations.

Questions about state telemarketer registration

We only call our existing customers. Do we need to register?

Possibly not, but check each state’s exact wording. Washington excludes solicitation “solely from purchasers who have previously purchased” from the business, under RCW 19.158.020, and Texas exempts current or former customers of a business that has used the same name for two years. Florida’s exemptions don’t excuse its calling-hours and frequency rules, per § 501.604.

Do these registration laws cover text campaigns?

Texas now says so expressly. Its definition includes “a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image,” under § 302.001 as amended in 2025. For the other states, read the definitions with counsel before assuming texts are outside them.

Does registering protect us from TCPA claims?

No. Registration is a state licensing matter. Federal consent and Do Not Call rules apply separately. For texts, the Seventh Circuit held in July 2026 in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, No. 25-2398, that texts are not telephone calls under the private Do Not Call provision, § 227(c)(5). That ruling binds courts in the Seventh Circuit, and other courts have disagreed.

Defending registration and TCPA claims together

If your company faces TCPA claims and a challenge to its registration status in Florida, Washington, or Texas, the filings, exemption evidence, and calling records usually decide whether the state issue adds real exposure. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents businesses defending TCPA lawsuits and class actions through its business litigation practice, including claims involving state telemarketing laws. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.

Sources

The Florida statutes are § 501.603, § 501.604, § 501.605, § 501.611, and § 501.623. The Washington statutes are RCW 19.158.020, 19.158.030, and 19.158.050. The Texas statute is Business and Commerce Code chapter 302, as amended by S.B. 140 effective September 1, 2025. The federal statute is 47 U.S.C. § 227.

This post is general information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related laws as of September 28, 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.