Yes, you can sue robocallers. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act gives you a private right of action worth $500 for each illegal call or text, and up to $1,500 per call if the company acted willfully. Congress built the process so ordinary people could handle these cases in small claims court without hiring a lawyer. Winning takes three things: calls that actually violate the law, evidence you gathered as they happened, and a real company name and address to sue.
Which Calls You Can Actually Sue Over
The TCPA, enacted in 1991, prohibits calls to cell phones that use a prerecorded voice or an automatic telephone dialing system without your prior express consent. For telemarketing robocalls, the caller needs your prior express written consent before dialing. The law also backs the National Do Not Call Registry by letting you sue telemarketers who call your registered number without permission.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
Text messages count as calls. An unwanted automated marketing text to your cell phone carries the same $500 exposure as a voice robocall.
If you previously gave a company permission to call you, you can take it back at any time. Once you revoke consent, the company has 10 business days to stop all robocalls and automated texts. Calls that arrive after that window are the strongest evidence of willful conduct, which is what triples your damages.
Telemarketers must also check the Do Not Call Registry at least every 31 days and scrub registered numbers from their call lists.2Federal Trade Commission. Q&A for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR
The Autodialer Limit You Need to Know About
In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021), the Supreme Court held that equipment only qualifies as an “automatic telephone dialing system” under the TCPA if it uses a random or sequential number generator to store or produce phone numbers. A system that dials from a pre-loaded list does not qualify.3Supreme Court of the United States. Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021)
Most modern robocallers buy lists and feed them into predictive dialers. After Duguid, calls placed that way may not violate the autodialer provision at all. Your case is strongest when the call used a prerecorded voice, because that prohibition doesn’t depend on the type of dialing equipment. If you picked up and heard a recorded pitch, that alone can be a violation. A call to your registered Do Not Call number is a separate violation that also doesn’t require proving autodialer use.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
Calls the TCPA Doesn’t Reach
Not every unwanted call is illegal. Political organizations, charities calling on their own behalf, and companies conducting telephone surveys are exempt from Do Not Call rules. A campaign robocall during election season is annoying but not actionable under the DNC provisions.2Federal Trade Commission. Q&A for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR
Companies you’ve done business with get a limited calling window. A business can call you for up to 18 months after your last purchase, delivery, or payment. If you only submitted an inquiry or application, the window shrinks to three months. In both cases, the moment you tell them to stop, the relationship no longer protects them.2Federal Trade Commission. Q&A for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR
The FCC also exempts certain narrow categories from autodialer rules for cell phones, including time-sensitive healthcare messages, financial institutions warning of potential fraud, and package delivery notifications. Each exemption comes with strict limits on frequency and content.4Federal Register. Limits on Exempted Calls Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991
Identify the Company Behind the Number
You can’t sue an unknown number. You need a real company name and an address where a court can serve legal papers. Robocallers work hard to hide behind spoofed numbers and shell entities, so this step is where most cases either come together or fall apart.
Start with what the call itself gives you. If a live person came on the line, the company name or product pitched is your first lead. Voicemails and texts often contain a callback number or brand name. Search the phone number in quotes, and check the FTC and FCC complaint databases. Other consumers may have already tied the number to a specific caller.
Caller ID spoofing is common but becoming less reliable. Phone carriers use a framework called STIR/SHAKEN to verify that the number displayed actually belongs to the caller, and unauthenticated calls are increasingly flagged or blocked.5Federal Communications Commission. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication
Once you have a company name, search the business registration records in the state where it appears to be based, usually through the Secretary of State’s website. You’re looking for the registered agent, meaning the person or service designated to receive legal papers. You’ll need that address for service of process.
When the caller stays anonymous, courts have allowed TCPA plaintiffs to file against unnamed defendants and then subpoena phone carriers to unmask them, though this path is more involved and often benefits from a lawyer’s help.
Document Every Call
Every illegal call is a separate violation worth separate damages, so careful records directly raise the value of your case. Start now, even if you haven’t decided to sue. Reconstructing evidence months later is hard.
For each call or text, capture:
- Date, time, and the caller ID as it appeared. Screenshot your call log or message thread right away.
- Content. Save voicemails as audio files. Screenshot texts before they disappear. If you spoke with someone live, write down what they said, what company or product they mentioned, and whether they identified themselves.
- Your opt-out request. Note the date, time, and how you delivered it. Put it in writing whenever you can so you have proof.
- Your Do Not Call registration date. You can verify your registration at donotcall.gov.
- Every call that arrived after you told the company to stop. Those are the calls that trigger treble damages.
Don’t rely on your phone alone. Carriers typically let you download detailed call records going back at least a year, and those records carry more weight in court than screenshots because they’re harder to fabricate.
Send a Demand Letter First
Before filing suit, send the company a formal demand letter. Many TCPA cases settle at this stage because the math scares defendants: ten willful violations is already $15,000, and the number only climbs from there. A letter shows you’re serious and gives the company an off-ramp.
Your letter should identify each violation by date and time, state the total damages you’re claiming, set a response deadline of 14 to 30 days, and make clear you’ll file suit if the company doesn’t respond. Send it by certified mail with return receipt requested, and keep copies of everything.
If the company ignores you or refuses, you’ve lost nothing. The letter itself becomes evidence that the company had notice and kept calling anyway, which reinforces your case for willful violation.
Filing in Small Claims Court
Congress designed the TCPA so consumers could enforce it in state court, preferably in small claims, without hiring a lawyer. Federal courts generally don’t hear private TCPA claims filed on their own.
Small claims courts cap how much you can sue for, and the limit varies by state, typically between $2,500 and $25,000. Count your violations, multiply by $500 (or $1,500 if you have willful conduct), and see where you land. If your damages exceed the cap, you can either reduce your claim to fit or file in a higher state court, where an attorney becomes worth considering.
Drafting the Complaint
Small claims courts use simplified forms. Your complaint identifies you as plaintiff, names the company as defendant, states that the company violated the TCPA, and lists each violation with its date and details. Attach your evidence: call logs, screenshots, voicemails, and copies of any opt-out requests. Filing fees generally run between $30 and $75. File with the clerk of the court where you live or where the defendant does business.
Serving the Defendant
After filing, you must formally deliver the lawsuit papers to the defendant, a step called service of process. You cannot hand them over yourself. Court rules require a neutral third party, typically a professional process server, the sheriff’s office, or certified mail depending on your jurisdiction. Serve the papers on the company’s registered agent at the address in the state business registry. If service is defective, the court can dismiss your case, so ask the clerk which methods your court accepts.
What You Can Recover
The TCPA provides $500 in statutory damages for each violation. You don’t have to prove any actual financial loss. The violation itself entitles you to the money.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
If the company acted willfully or knowingly, the court can triple damages to $1,500 per violation. Willful doesn’t require proof the company set out to break the law. Continuing to call after you revoked consent, or calling registered numbers without checking the DNC list, typically qualifies. That’s why documenting opt-out requests matters so much.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 U.S. Code 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment
The math adds up fast. Twenty illegal robocalls at the base rate is $10,000. If those calls kept coming after you told the company to stop, a court could award $30,000.
One thing the TCPA does not provide is attorney’s fees. If you hire a lawyer, you pay them out of your recovery. Another reason Congress pointed these cases toward small claims, where you can represent yourself and keep whatever you win.
The Four-Year Deadline
You have four years from the date of each violation to file suit, under the general federal catchall in 28 U.S.C. ยง 1658.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1658 – Time Limitations on the Commencement of Civil Actions Arising Under Acts of Congress
Each call has its own clock. If a company called illegally 50 times over three years, early calls may age out while recent ones remain actionable. Don’t sit on a strong claim. Evidence degrades, call logs disappear, and companies dissolve or rebrand to duck liability.
Taxes on Your Recovery
TCPA damages are generally taxable income. The IRS excludes only damages received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness, and statutory damages for unwanted phone calls don’t qualify. Whether the money arrives through a judgment or a settlement, plan on reporting it as income.7Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments
Also File a Complaint With the FCC or FTC
A lawsuit isn’t your only avenue, and filing a government complaint takes minutes even if you plan to sue. Report illegal robocalls to the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints, or report DNC violations and phone scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Neither agency resolves individual claims or pays you directly, but both feed complaints into enforcement databases used to fine repeat offenders.8Federal Communications Commission. Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts
A complaint also builds your paper trail. If your case reaches a courtroom, the fact that you reported the calls to a federal agency before suing reinforces your credibility and shows you treated the violations seriously.