Telemarketing Laws by State: Mini-TCPA Rules & Penalties

What Are Telemarketing Laws by State, and What Is a Mini-TCPA?

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. 227, sets a national floor for telemarketing calls. Several states add their own statutes, often called "mini-TCPAs" because they borrow TCPA-style ideas: signed written consent for automated calls, caller ID rules and a private right of action. Some go further, with tighter calling hours or daily call limits.

This article covers only what the official statute text says for three states: Florida, Maryland and North Carolina. States not listed are not covered, including states whose official code sites could not be retrieved. Many states also keep their own do-not-call lists or telemarketer registration rules, so check the official code of every state you call into.

What Is the Federal Baseline?

Calling hours: no telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1), 2025 edition).
Automated calls: advertising calls using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to the numbers listed in 64.1200(a)(1), which include cellular numbers, need prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)). National do-not-call registry protections are in 64.1200(c)(2).
Room for states: except for the subsection (d) technical standards, section 227 and its regulations do not preempt state laws that impose more restrictive intrastate requirements on, or prohibit, autodialers, prerecorded voice messages, unsolicited fax ads or telephone solicitations (47 U.S.C. 227(f)(1), 2022 edition). How that applies to interstate calls is a question for counsel.

For the federal rules in more detail, see our guide to insurance telemarketing rules.

What Does the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act Require?

Florida's telephone solicitation statute is section 501.059 of the Florida Statutes (2025 edition), often called the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act; the statute itself is headed simply "Telephone solicitation."

Scope: a "telephonic sales call" is "a telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose of soliciting a sale" of consumer goods or services, or credit for them, or obtaining information that will or may be used for that (501.059(1)). An "unsolicited" call excludes calls made in response to an express request of the person called, calls primarily about an existing debt or contract that is not yet paid or performed, calls to a person with whom the solicitor has a prior or existing business relationship, and certain newspaper calls.
Consent: an unsolicited telephonic sales call that involves "an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers or the playing of a recorded message" needs the called party's prior express written consent (501.059(8)(a)). That consent must be a written agreement that bears the called party's signature, clearly authorizes such calls, texts or voicemails, includes the authorized telephone number, and clearly and conspicuously discloses that signing is not a condition of any purchase (501.059(1)).
Other duties: solicitors must give their true name and the business they represent at the start of an unsolicited call (501.059(2)); may not call numbers on the state's quarterly "no sales solicitation calls" listing (501.059(4)); must honor requests not to be contacted (501.059(5)); and must transmit caller ID (501.059(8)(b)). A call to any Florida area code is rebuttably presumed to reach a Florida resident or someone in Florida (501.059(8)(d)).
Hours and frequency: none in 501.059 itself; see the Florida Telemarketing Act below.

Do State Telemarketing Laws Apply to Insurance Agents?

It depends on the statute, so read each one for an insurance carve-out. In the three states reviewed:

Florida, s. 501.059: the word "insurance" does not appear in the 2025 text, and no licensed-agent exemption was found in it.
Florida Telemarketing Act (ss. 501.601 and following): section 501.604(8) exempts "any licensed insurance broker, agent, customer representative, or solicitor when soliciting within the scope of his or her license," licensed by any state. But the exemption list opens with "The provisions of this part, except ss. 501.608 and 501.616(6) and (7), do not apply to," so the calling-hours and call-frequency rules in 501.616(6) still reach licensed agents. Under 501.616(6), a commercial telephone seller or salesperson may not make a commercial telephone solicitation call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in the called person's time zone, or make more than three such calls to a person over a 24-hour period on the same subject matter, regardless of the number used, including calls made through automated dialing or recorded messages.
Maryland: the definitions and requirements in Com. Law 14-4501 and 14-4502 do not mention insurance.
North Carolina: G.S. 75-101 has no insurance-related exclusion. The only insurer-specific provision is an exception in the recorded-message rule for non-solicitation calls by a "health insurer" (as defined in G.S. 58-51-115(a)(2)) to its own covered subscribers (G.S. 75-104(b)(6)). Ask counsel whether any exception fits your calls.

What Does Maryland's Telephone Solicitation Law Require?

Maryland's rules are in Commercial Law 14-4501 through 14-4503.

Scope: "telephone solicitation" takes its meaning from Public Utilities 8-205: an organized activity, program or campaign to communicate by telephone with Maryland residents to sell, lease or rent goods or services, or attempt to, among other purposes.
Consent: without the called party's prior express written consent, a person may not make a telephone solicitation that uses an automated system for selecting or dialing numbers or plays a recorded message when the call connects (14-4502(a)(3)). Consent must bear the called party's signature, which can be electronic where applicable federal law or Maryland contract law recognizes it as valid (14-4501(d), (e)). The seven exemptions in 14-4502(a)(1), such as a single solicitation made to a customer in response to an inquiry or request, apply only to subsection (a).
Hours and frequency: no telephone solicitation, including automated or recorded calls, between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the called party's time zone, and no more than three calls to the same party within 24 hours on the same subject, regardless of the numbers used (14-4502(c)).
Caller ID: transmit the originating number and, where available, the name; no blocking and no displaying a different number to conceal identity (14-4502(b)).

What Does North Carolina's Telephone Solicitation Law Require?

Scope: "telephone solicitation" covers a voice or text communication, prerecorded, live or fax, made by a telephone solicitor to a telephone subscriber to solicit the purchase or rental of property, goods or services, among other purposes. It also includes transactions defined as "telemarketing" under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (G.S. 75-101(9)); note that the FTC Act reaches the business of insurance only to the extent state law does not regulate it (15 U.S.C. 1012(b)).
Do not call: no solicitation to a number on the latest edition of the "Do Not Call" Registry (G.S. 75-102(a)), with exceptions in 75-103(a), including prior express invitation or permission, an established business relationship (a purchase, rental, lease or financial transaction within the prior 18 months, or an inquiry or application within the prior three months, 75-101(5)), and callers with fewer than 10 direct employees averaging no more than 10 solicitations a week (75-103(a)(4)).
Hours: no telephone solicitation before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. (75-102(f)).
On the call: state the solicitor's identity at the start, end the call if the subscriber objects (75-102(c)), ask whether the subscriber is under 18 (75-102(g)), and do not transmit misleading caller ID (75-102(i)).
Recorded messages: except as the section provides, no person may use an automatic dialing and recorded message player to make an unsolicited telephone call (75-104(a)).

Which States Have Stricter Calling Rules? A Comparison Table

State	Statute	What It Covers	Private Right of Action and Damages	Insurance Notes
Florida	Fla. Stat. 501.059; 501.616(6)	Calls, texts and voicemails to sell consumer goods or services; signed written consent for automated selection-and-dialing or recorded messages; state no-call list; 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and three calls per 24 hours under 501.616(6)	Actual damages or $500, whichever is greater; up to three times that if willful or knowing; text claims require a STOP reply first (501.059(10))	No insurance language found in 501.059. Telemarketing Act exempts licensed agents within the scope of their license, except 501.608 and 501.616(6)-(7) (501.604(8))
Maryland	Com. Law 14-4501 to 14-4503	Telephone solicitations to Maryland residents; signed written consent for automated systems or recorded messages; 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; three calls per 24 hours	Up to $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater; up to three times that if willful or knowing (14-4503(a)(2))	No insurance mention found in 14-4501 or 14-4502
North Carolina	G.S. 75-101 to 75-105	Voice, text or fax solicitations; Do Not Call Registry; 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; limits on autodialed recorded messages	$500 first violation, $1,000 second, $5,000 third and later within two years of the first (75-105(b)(2))	No insurance exclusion in 75-101; recorded-message exception for health insurers only (75-104(b)(6))

What Are the Penalties Under These State Laws?

Keep three kinds of exposure separate. These are statutory amounts, ranges or minimums, not predictions.

Private Lawsuits

The damages are in the table above. Two details: Florida text-message claims require the called party to reply "STOP" first and can proceed only if solicitations continue 15 days after that notice (501.059(10)(c)), and North Carolina allows attorneys' fees for willful conduct (75-105(d)).

State Agency and Attorney General Civil Penalties

Florida: the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the Department of Legal Affairs may seek a Class IV civil penalty for each violation (501.059(9)(a)), which s. 570.971(1)(d) describes as "a fine of $10,000 or more," or the department may impose a Class III administrative fine of up to $10,000 for each violation (501.059(9)(b); 570.971(1)(c)). Maryland: a violation is an unfair, abusive or deceptive trade practice under Title 13 (14-4503(a)(1)), where a merchant faces up to $10,000 per violation and up to $25,000 per repeat violation, recoverable by the State (13-410). North Carolina: the Attorney General can seek $500, $1,000 and $5,000 tiers, or $100 per violation for mistakes that meet the conditions in 75-105(a)(2).

Criminal Penalties

Florida's Telemarketing Act makes using technology that deliberately displays a different caller ID number to conceal the caller's identity a second-degree misdemeanor (501.616(7)(b)). Other criminal provisions are not covered here. For federal penalties, see TCPA violations and fines for insurance agents; for registry issues, see do not call violations.

Where Do Inbound Calls Fit?

These statutes generally target calls the seller makes. Florida defines a telephonic sales call as a transmission "to a consumer," and excludes from "unsolicited" a call made in response to an express request of the person called (501.059(1)). North Carolina defines a telephone solicitation as a communication made by a telephone solicitor to a telephone subscriber (75-101(9)). Maryland's definition covers an organized campaign to communicate by telephone with residents (PUC 8-205). Those definitions point to outbound activity, but whether a consumer-initiated call falls entirely outside a statute depends on its full text. Exceptions are narrow: North Carolina's prior-permission exception (75-103(a)(1)) mainly lifts the registry rule and a few related duties (75-103(b)); it does not lift the 8 a.m.-9 p.m. hours rule (75-102(f)), and Maryland's inquiry exception does not reach its hours and frequency limits (14-4502). A callback is a new outbound call, so check consent, hours and frequency first, and confirm your call flows with counsel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Mini-TCPA?

An informal name for a state telemarketing law modeled on the federal TCPA, typically requiring signed written consent for automated calls and giving consumers a right to sue, as Florida's 501.059 and Maryland's 14-4501 to 14-4503 do.

Does the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act Apply to Life Insurance Agents?

No insurance exemption was found in the 2025 text of 501.059. The licensed-agent exemption in 501.604(8) belongs to the Florida Telemarketing Act and does not reach its hours and frequency rule in 501.616(6). Confirm with counsel.

Which States Have Stricter Calling Rules Than Federal Law?

Of the states reviewed, Florida (501.616(6)) and Maryland (14-4502(c)) end calling at 8 p.m., an hour earlier than the federal 9 p.m., and cap calls at three per 24 hours on the same subject.

This article is general education, not legal advice. It summarizes statute text from official state legislature sites and federal law from govinfo.gov as read in November 2026; statutes change, and the states reviewed are only examples. Confirm how these laws apply to your calls with counsel or your compliance team.

Telemarketing Laws by State: Mini-TCPA States and Their Penalties