Wisconsin REALTORS® Association: The Best of the Legal Hotline

The Best of the Legal Hotline

Do not call rules

 Jennifer Lindsley, WRA Director of Legal Services and Licensing  |    March 31, 2025
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TCPA changes and the Do Not Call Registry   

To comply with and prepare for the upcoming Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) changes, will the buyer agency agreement, listing contracts and the Disclosure to Customers form be modified? What is the recommended language to use?

At this time, the WRA is unaware of any plans to revise the WB agency agreements and the WRA’s Disclosure to Customers form to address the amendments to the TCPA rules.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new effective dates for amendments to rules under the TCPA aimed at strengthening consumer protections against robocalls and robotexts. These amendments, published on March 5, 2024, will take effect on April 11, 2025.

Highlights of the amendments include:

  • Consumers may revoke consent to robocalls and robotexts “in any reasonable manner” — including use of the words: stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe
  • Callers must honor do-not-call and revocation requests “as soon as practicable” — no later than 10 business days after the request.
  • Text-senders may send one text message in response to a revocation request confirming or clarifying the scope of the request within five minutes.

For more information regarding the amendments to the TCPA, see the FCC’s order and notice on the FCC’s TCPA rules webpage. 

An agent wants to call a for sale by owner (FSBO) and see if the agent can get the listing. Does the agent need to check the Do Not Call Registry before calling the owner? Is there anything else the agent must do?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates interstate telephone solicitations and the national Do Not Call Registry. The FCC regulates calls that are both intrastate, which are within the state, as well as interstate, or between states, including calls made within Wisconsin. Both the FTC and FCC regulations became effective in 2003. For REALTORS® and real estate licensees, this generally includes cold calling, calls to owners with cancelled or expired listings, calls to FSBOs, and calls to consumers referred by others. When placing these calls, agents should check whether the phone number is on the Do Not Call Registry if an exception does not apply. These regulations apply to calls to a consumer’s residence or cell phone encouraging the purchase, rental or investment in property, goods or services regulated under federal law.

The rules are applicable to texts to consumers too. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) offers information about creating office policies to assure compliance with the no call rules (NAR login required).

What limitations do REALTORS® have in regard to prospecting FSBO sellers as potential clients? What are the possible ways to contact a FSBO seller, and what limits are there for contacting a FSBO seller? 

Depending on how the licensee reaches out to the seller, the law or the REALTOR® Code of Ethics may limit contact. The first recommendation is to check to see if the seller is in fact a FSBO seller. Some sellers may have an exclusive agency listing whereby the property is actually listed but the seller retains the right to market the property. If the property is listed, the licensee, as a REALTOR®, may not solicit the client of another REALTOR® based on Article 16, which would apply if the seller has a limited service listing or an exclusive agency listing with another firm.

REALTOR® Code of Ethics Article 16 

“REALTORS® shall not engage in any practice or take any action inconsistent with exclusive representation or exclusive brokerage relationship agreements that other REALTORS® have with clients.” 

Solicitation ordinances 

Can a licensee go and knock on the door of a FSBO seller?

Before going to the home of a FSBO seller to “knock on the door,” the licensee may review the local ordinances. In some municipalities, it may be illegal to attempt to sell a homeowner products or services at their residence. 

Emailing the seller   

Can the licensee email the seller?

The federal CAN-SPAM Act applies to all commercial emails, defined as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” These messages include emails that promote or sell a product or service for a fee, such as REALTOR® emails offering properties or brokerage services. CAN-SPAM requires all commercial emails to include a return email address and a valid physical postal address, a clear and conspicuous “opt-out” notice, a mechanism or active email address that the recipient may use to ask to not receive further email, a clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or a solicitation, and a clear notice in the subject heading if a message includes pornographic or sexual content. 

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