How to respond to a TCPA demand letter: seven steps before the deadline
The letter gives you a deadline, usually two to four weeks. That is enough time to do this properly if you start now. Note the deadline, verify the sender, preserve your records, suppress the numbers, work out who made each call, decide whether to resolve or dispute, and reply in writing. Seven steps, in order, with what each one produces.
1. Read the whole letter and note the deadline
The demand lists each call or text with the number, date, time and content, the provision breached, the statutory damages attached and a deadline. Write the deadline down. Everything else runs from it.
2. Confirm it is genuine
Registry lookup, type the domain yourself, write to the sender quoting the reference. Full checklist on is the letter real. Do not pay anything until this is done.
3. Preserve your records
Call and text logs, dialer and messaging-platform exports, lead sources and the consent records attached to them, vendor and call-centre contracts, your internal do-not-call list, your do-not-call policy and training records. The letter is notice that litigation is possible. From that point, deleting or altering records can carry serious consequences in court. Keep everything, including records that help your position.
4. Suppress the numbers
Add every number in the letter to the do-not-call list in every system you use and send the same instruction to every vendor dialing for you. Calls after the letter are knowing, and knowing calls are trebled. This step costs nothing.
5. Find out who made each contact
Match every listed call against your own systems. Your staff, an outsourced centre, an affiliate, a lead generator? Under the TCPA a business is liable for calls made on its behalf, so the answer does not remove liability, but it tells you what records exist, whether consent was collected and whether a vendor contract carries indemnity. See vendor liability.
6. Decide: resolve, dispute, or both
Go item by item. For each listed call ask: did we or someone for us make it, do we hold consent in the required form, was the number on the registry, did it come after a STOP. Items that fail on your own evidence are disputed with that evidence attached. Items that stand are resolved. For most recipients the reconciliation ends with the items standing, and the right move is to resolve them: the demand-stage figure is below the statutory floor and a release ends the matter. Contesting a documented call costs more than settling it. The arithmetic is on should I settle and the calculator.
7. Reply in writing before the deadline
A useful reply contains:
- The reference number from the letter.
- Confirmation that the numbers are suppressed, with the date.
- For disputed items: which ones, why, and the records that show it (consent form, vendor contract, database check).
- For the rest: a proposal, or acceptance of the figure, and a request for the release terms.
- If you need time: the reason and the date you can respond by.
Keep the tone factual. A reply that argues about whether the TCPA should exist gets nowhere. A reply that engages with the listed calls and attaches records is how a demand gets reduced.
After the reply
If you resolve, get the release in writing before paying, check it names every call and text in the letter, and pay by a method that leaves a record. If you dispute, expect the sender to review the evidence and come back with either a reduced count or a referral to counsel. Then go to the prevention checklist, because the campaign that produced this letter has produced others.
Quick answers
Should I call the sender?
Write instead. A written exchange is a record of what was asked and offered. If you do call, confirm everything said in writing afterwards.
Can I ask for an extension?
Yes, and most senders grant a short one if asked before the deadline with a reason, such as waiting on vendor records. Ask in writing and get the new date in writing.
Do I need a lawyer to respond?
No, but a business facing a claim should speak to one. Counsel is most valuable where the dispute turns on consent records or vendor contracts. For a straightforward resolution the cost of counsel can exceed the demand; see lawyer cost vs the demand.