If you are receiving robocalls, pre-recorded voice messages, or unsolicited spam text messages in Florida, you may be entitled to recover $500 to $1,500 per message or call under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA). The TCPA is one of the most powerful consumer protection statutes in the United States, and Florida residents — who are among the most frequently targeted by telemarketers, debt collectors, and political campaign dialers — have successfully recovered thousands, and in class actions millions, of dollars under this federal law. Understanding your rights under the TCPA in 2026 is the first step toward stopping the harassment and getting compensated.

What Is the TCPA and Who Does It Protect?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was enacted by Congress in 1991 and has been updated and interpreted through FCC rulemaking and federal court decisions ever since. At its core, the TCPA prohibits: (1) making calls or sending texts using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or pre-recorded voice to a cell phone without prior express written consent; (2) making pre-recorded telemarketing calls to residential landlines without prior express written consent; (3) sending unsolicited fax advertisements; and (4) calling numbers registered on the National Do Not Call Registry. The law applies nationwide — including to calls and texts received by Florida residents — and is enforced through private lawsuits in federal court as well as FCC enforcement actions.

How Much Can You Recover Per Violation?

The TCPA provides statutory damages of $500 per negligent violation and up to $1,500 per willful or knowing violation. These damages are per call or per text message, which means that a single telemarketing campaign that sent you 50 texts could expose the sender to $75,000 in liability to you alone. In class action cases, where a company has blasted millions of consumers with illegal robocalls or texts, aggregate liability can reach hundreds of millions of dollars. You do not need to prove that you suffered actual monetary harm — the statutory damage amount is available simply by proving that an illegal call or text was made.

The Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) Definition After Facebook v. Duguid

In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the TCPA's definition of an ATDS to equipment that uses a random or sequential number generator to store or produce telephone numbers to be called. This decision made some robocall cases harder to bring under the ATDS prong. However, in 2026, plaintiffs' attorneys and consumer advocates have pivoted to cases involving pre-recorded voice messages and artificial intelligence voice calls — which are regulated separately under the TCPA and do not require proof of an ATDS. The Eleventh Circuit, which governs federal courts in Florida, has continued to recognize robust TCPA claims involving pre-recorded messages and predictive dialers used in ways that meet the post-Duguid standard.

AI-Generated Robocalls: A 2026 Frontier

The Federal Communications Commission issued a landmark ruling in February 2024 finding that AI-generated voices used in robocalls are covered by the TCPA's restrictions on artificial or pre-recorded voice messages. This means that calls featuring AI-synthesized voices — including voice-cloned celebrity or politician impersonations — made without consent are actionable under the TCPA. In 2026, this ruling is actively being applied in cases across Florida involving AI voice marketing calls for insurance products, home warranties, and political messaging. Florida residents who received such calls during recent election cycles may have TCPA claims against the calling entity.

What Counts as Prior Express Written Consent?

The TCPA requires that, for autodialed or pre-recorded calls and texts to cell phones, the caller must have obtained the consumer's prior express written consent. This consent must: (1) be in writing (including electronic consent); (2) clearly authorize the specific company to contact the consumer using autodialing or pre-recorded voice technology; (3) include the consumer's phone number; and (4) not be buried in pages of fine print where a reasonable person would not notice it. Consent obtained through deceptive online forms, pre-checked boxes, or third-party lead generators that bundle consent language with unrelated disclosures may not constitute valid TCPA consent. If you provided your number to one company and a different company is calling you, the calling company likely lacks valid consent.

The National Do Not Call Registry and Florida's Do Not Call Law

In addition to TCPA protections, Florida has its own Florida Telemarketing Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 501.601–501.626, which imposes additional registration, disclosure, and conduct requirements on telemarketers operating in or targeting Florida consumers. Florida's law works alongside the federal National Do Not Call Registry, maintained by the FTC. Registering your number with the National DNC Registry does not automatically create a TCPA private right of action for every call you receive, but it does provide important evidence that you had not consented to telemarketing calls. Calls received more than 31 days after registry registration may be actionable under the DNC provisions of the TCPA.

Debt Collector Robocalls: A Special Category

Many of the most aggressive robocallers targeting Florida consumers are debt collectors. The TCPA applies to debt collection calls just as it applies to marketing calls. A debt collector who repeatedly autodialed your cell phone without your consent — or after you revoked consent — faces TCPA liability of $500 to $1,500 per call. In addition, such conduct may violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1692, which independently prohibits harassment, deceptive, and abusive debt collection practices. Dual TCPA and FDCPA claims are common in South Florida consumer protection litigation.

How to Document Your TCPA Claim

Building a strong TCPA case begins with documentation. If you are receiving illegal robocalls or spam texts, take the following steps:

Save every text message you receive, including the sender's phone number or short code, the message content, and the date and time.
Record the date, time, caller ID, and content of every robocall or pre-recorded message you receive.
Do not block the number immediately — allowing calls to continue briefly while documenting them strengthens your claim.
Note whether you ever consented to receive calls from this company and whether you previously asked them to stop.
Request your call records from your carrier, which can corroborate the volume and timing of calls.
File a complaint with the FCC at fcc.gov/consumers/guides/filing-informal-complaint and with the FTC at donotcall.gov.

Class Actions vs. Individual TCPA Claims

TCPA cases can be pursued as individual claims or as class actions, depending on the scope of the defendant's conduct. If a company sent the same unlawful text message to tens of thousands of Florida consumers, a class action in the Southern District of Florida may be the most efficient vehicle for recovery. Individual TCPA claims — where the plaintiff suffered a smaller but still measurable volume of illegal contacts — are often resolved through settlement, sometimes within months of filing. The statutory damage structure of the TCPA means that even a relatively small number of illegal calls or texts can produce a meaningful individual recovery without needing to prove actual harm.

TCPA Litigation in the Southern District of Florida

Miami's federal courthouse in the Southern District of Florida handles a disproportionately large share of the nation's TCPA litigation, due in part to Florida's large consumer population, its status as a hub for financial services and insurance marketing, and the aggressive TCPA plaintiff bar operating in South Florida. Judges in the Southern District have significant TCPA experience, and the court's class action procedures are well-developed. For Florida TCPA plaintiffs, filing in the Southern District often offers efficiency and experienced judicial oversight.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a call or text I received violates the TCPA? Generally, if you received a call featuring a pre-recorded voice or a text message from a number you do not recognize — especially for marketing, insurance, debt collection, or political purposes — and you did not provide prior express written consent to that specific company, the contact may violate the TCPA. An attorney can review the facts of your situation and advise whether you have a viable claim.

Can I sue a company for just one robocall? Yes. The TCPA provides statutory damages per violation, meaning even a single illegal robocall or text message can support a claim for $500 (or $1,500 if willful). In practice, individual cases involving only one or two calls are less commonly litigated, but where a pattern exists — even a short one — an individual claim or small claims-style TCPA action may be appropriate.

Does the TCPA apply to political calls and texts? Political calls and texts are partially exempt from certain TCPA restrictions, but they are not entirely exempt. Pre-recorded calls to cell phones for political purposes still require prior express consent. The 2024 FCC AI voice ruling applies to political robocalls using synthetic voices. If you received unsolicited political robocalls or texts to your cell phone without consent, you may still have a TCPA claim.

What if I told the company to stop calling me and they kept calling? Revoking consent is your right under the TCPA, and any call or text made after you clearly revoked consent is an independent TCPA violation. Under 2023 FCC rules, consumers may revoke consent through any reasonable means — by saying stop on a call, replying STOP to a text, or sending a written revocation. Post-revocation calls are particularly strong TCPA claims because they demonstrate willfulness.

Key Takeaways

The TCPA provides $500 per negligent violation and $1,500 per willful violation — per call or text — without needing to prove actual damages.
AI-generated robocalls are covered by the TCPA per the FCC's 2024 ruling.
Prior express written consent must be specific to the calling company; bundled or buried consent forms are frequently challenged.
Debt collector robocalls may support both TCPA and FDCPA claims.
Revoking consent stops the clock — any call or text after a valid revocation is a new TCPA violation.
Florida consumers have strong individual and class action remedies available in the Southern District of Florida.

The Farber Law Firm represents Florida consumers who are being harassed by robocallers, spam texters, and illegal telemarketing campaigns. If you are receiving unwanted calls or texts and want to know whether you have a TCPA claim, contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. You may be entitled to more compensation than you realize.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change; consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.

Getting Robocalls or Spam Texts? You May Be Entitled to $1,500 Per Message Under the TCPA