The short answer

Get clear consent before you text, keep proof of it, and stop the moment someone asks. Marketing texts need written consent that names your business. Opt-outs can arrive in any reasonable form and must be honored within 10 business days. Keep marketing texts inside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, and register your business texting with the carriers.

This checklist is general information about US rules, not legal advice. State laws can be stricter. Check with your counsel before you launch a texting program.

Before you send the first text

  • Know which kind of text it is. A reply to someone who just texted you, a reminder about their own appointment or lease, and a promotion are treated differently. Marketing texts carry the strictest rules.
  • Get written consent for marketing texts. Under FCC rules in place since 2013, automated marketing texts to cell phones need prior express written consent: a signed agreement, including an electronic one, that clearly says this business will text this number with marketing (Duane Morris).
  • Never make consent a condition of buying or leasing. The disclosure has to say so.
  • Tell people what they're signing up for: who is texting, what kind of messages and roughly how often (Bird).
  • Build your own list. Consent doesn't transfer, so bought or shared lists are off limits.
  • Register with the carriers. Business texting from a regular 10-digit number goes through A2P 10DLC registration of your business and each campaign. Unregistered traffic gets filtered heavily.

Every text you send

  • Say who you are in the message.
  • Say how to stop, for example "Reply STOP to opt out."
  • Mind the clock. Federal rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time, and recent lawsuits apply that to marketing texts (Benesch). State rules can be stricter, so check yours.
  • Keep it relevant to what the person signed up for.

When someone opts out

  • Accept any reasonable request. Under the FCC's 2024 order, replies like "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" count, and so does other wording that clearly asks you to stop (FCC 24-24).
  • Honor it within 10 business days at most. Faster is better. These rules took effect in April 2025 (Kelley Drye).
  • Send one confirmation, then stop. A single text confirming the opt-out, sent within five minutes, is allowed.
  • Don't force one opt-out method. People can opt out by text, phone, email or in person.
  • Watch the revoke-all rule. The FCC has delayed a rule that would make one opt-out apply to all of a sender's robocalls and robotexts, now set for January 31, 2027 (Burr & Forman). Plan for it now.

Keep records

  • Save each consent: the form or screen, the exact wording, the date, time and phone number.
  • Log every opt-out with the date it arrived and the date you processed it.
  • Keep consent records for years, not months. Five years from the last text is a common standard.
  • Check your vendors. If a vendor texts for you, ask how they capture consent and process opt-outs.

How YesOneOne helps

Leigh and Emma follow up by phone and text. Before any AI employee texts on your behalf, ask the vendor, including us, to show you how consent, quiet hours and opt-outs are handled. Anything unusual goes to your team.

Walk through your texting setup with us.

Book a Demo →

Sources

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