Most people assume that once their number is on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, telemarketers have to leave them alone. That has been the working assumption for more than two decades. Two federal rulings from the last week of September challenge it in ways that could affect almost everyone with a cell phone.

What the courts decided

On September 28, 2026, a federal court in Colorado dismissed a proposed class action called Brown v. Hursh Group. The court held that text messages are not “telephone calls” under the part of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that lets consumers sue over Do-Not-Call violations. Its reasoning was that when Congress passed the law in 1991, a “telephone call” meant a voice call. Texts don’t carry sound, so in the court’s view they fall outside that meaning.

That was the second decision from the same court in about a week to reach that conclusion. It follows the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which became the first federal appeals court to rule this way earlier this year. Several other federal district courts have issued similar rulings in September.

Two days later, on September 30, a federal court in Missouri went a step further. In Koeller v. OX AppSec Security, the court held that a cell phone is not a “residential telephone” under the Do-Not-Call rules. The statute protects “residential telephone subscribers.” The court read that phrase the way it was understood in 1991, as a phone line connected to a home. A federal court in Florida reached the same result earlier in September.

Why this is happening now

For years, courts generally followed the Federal Communications Commission’s interpretations of the TCPA. In 2003 the FCC said Do-Not-Call protections cover cell phones. It has also treated text messages as calls.

That deference has changed. After the Supreme Court’s decisions in Loper Bright and McLaughlin, federal judges must decide for themselves what a statute means rather than defer to the agency’s reading. Some judges are now going back to the text of a 35-year-old law and reaching different answers than the FCC did.

Is this the law everywhere now?

No. These are rulings from individual courts. The Seventh Circuit’s decision is binding only in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Many other courts have continued to apply Do-Not-Call protections to cell phones, and that remains the majority view for now.

What these rulings show is a real and growing split. Whether you can bring a claim may depend more and more on where you live and which court hears the case. A question like this may eventually reach the Supreme Court.

What this means for you

Most of the unwanted marketing people get today comes as texts or calls to cell phones. If these rulings spread, the Do-Not-Call Registry would protect far fewer people than most assume.

A few practical points:

• Stay on the registry. Registration still matters, and many courts still enforce it for cell phones.
• Keep records. Save screenshots of texts and logs of calls, including dates, times, numbers and what was said.
• Note how you use your phone. If your cell phone is your only phone and you use it at home, write that down. Some courts look at how a phone is actually used.
• Other laws may apply. The TCPA has other provisions, such as limits on prerecorded and artificial-voice calls. Some states, including Florida and Oklahoma, have their own telemarketing laws. These rulings don’t decide those claims.

Talk to us

If you’re getting telemarketing calls or texts you never agreed to, we’re glad to review what’s happening and explain your options. Contact Ginsburg Law Group for a free consultation.

This post is for general information and isn’t legal advice. Reading it doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship.