Automated communications
Before your association robocalls or texts an owner, federal law wants a yes on file first.
Federal law, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), requires prior express consent before an association sends an autodialed or prerecorded call, robocall, or text to an owner's cell phone. This applies to routine dues reminders and violation alerts, not only telemarketing. Get consent first, record it, and let owners revoke it.
The federal rule: consent first, not opt-out
Most boards assume automated messages work like email newsletters: send it, and let anyone who objects unsubscribe. The TCPA runs the other direction for cell phones. A call or text sent by an automatic dialing system or with a prerecorded voice needs the recipient's consent before it goes out, not after.
"any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service... or any service for which the called party is charged for the call"
Source: 47 U.S.C. section 227, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, U.S. Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
That language covers cell phones broadly, which is where most owners now receive text and call notifications. If a system your association uses can send the same message to a list automatically, without a person dialing each number, this rule is in play.
"It's just a friendly reminder" is not an exception
An automated text about a past-due assessment, an amenity closure, or a violation notice is not exempt because it is helpful rather than salesy. The TCPA's consent requirement is not limited to telemarketing or debt collection; an association's own automated reminder can trigger it the same as a marketing call would. Boards that assume "we're just informing owners, not selling anything" often discover the rule applies anyway once they look closer.
Handing a phone number to the association on a membership form, an ARC application, or a dues statement is not, by itself, consent to receive automated calls or texts at that number. Consent needs to be specific to that kind of communication.
What varies by state and by channel
Several states layer additional consent or do-not-call requirements on top of the federal TCPA baseline described above. Treat the federal rule as the floor, not the whole picture, and confirm any state-level add-on with your association's counsel before rolling out a text or call program.
Automated email reminders raise a related but separate question: whether the owner agreed to receive that notice electronically at all. Some states require an owner's written or emailed consent before an association can deliver an individual notice by email, and let the owner revoke that consent later. California's version of this rule is one example, worth reading if you want to see how detailed this can get.
Building a program that can prove consent
Whatever system sends automated calls or texts on the association's behalf should be able to show, for each recipient, how and when they consented, and give them a clear way to revoke it. A vendor's assurance that "we handle compliance" is not the same as a dated record your board can produce if a resident disputes it. Ask any communications vendor two questions before signing: how does the system capture consent at the moment it is given, and how does an owner revoke it.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your board wants to start texting automated dues reminders to every owner's cell phone. What has to happen first under the TCPA?
A vendor offers an automated robocall to announce pool closures. An owner never agreed to automated calls, but did write their phone number on a membership form. Is that enough consent under the TCPA?
Which practice best protects the association if it ever needs to prove it had TCPA consent?
Sources
- 47 U.S.C. section 227, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, U.S. Code (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
- California Civil Code section 4040, individual notice, electronic delivery consent, California Legislature
Technology
Next, see how this same consent-first logic shapes how your association can accept and remind owners about online payments.
Whether your state layers extra consent or do-not-call rules on top of the federal TCPA baseline, and whether automated email reminders need their own separate opt-in, varies by state and by channel.