Important: This Article Is Educational, Not Legal Advice
This overview of the TCPA is intended for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Your compliance with the TCPA depends on how you and your team actually communicate with consumers.
BoomTown strongly advises you seek legal counsel on this topic to receive guidance on how to stay compliant with the TCPA in your specific jurisdiction and business context.
What Is the TCPA?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a U.S. federal law, originally implemented by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that protects consumers from unwanted and unsolicited telemarketing communication. In 2012, the law was updated to cover pre-recorded "robocalls" and text messages.
Under the TCPA, you must receive consent from a consumer before contacting them using automated calls or text messages. Contacting consumers who have not given consent — or who have revoked consent by opting out — exposes you to statutory damages assessed per violation, with higher damages available for knowing or willful violations. Because damages apply per call or per text, a single campaign with consent issues can rapidly accumulate into significant liability.
Additional penalties apply for related violations, including calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry and certain robocall violations under the TRACED Act.
TCPA enforcement has expanded in recent years, with additional consent revocation rules making it easier for consumers to opt out. Stay current with your legal counsel on evolving requirements, and refer to the FCC's TCPA rules document for specifics.
How BoomTown Captures Consent
Consent via website registration
When a consumer registers on your BoomTown-provided website, the registration form presents the TCPA disclaimer (shown in full below) and a link to the Terms of Use. By submitting the form with their phone number, the consumer expressly consents to being contacted by you or a third-party vendor acting on your behalf — including by automated calls and text messages.
This captures consent automatically for any lead who registers directly through your BoomTown site, without requiring you to collect consent separately.
Consent for imported leads
Important: Only leads who have completed the registration process on your BoomTown site have given consent through the BoomTown registration form.
If you import contacts into BoomTown from outside sources (bulk imports, auto-imports, CRM migrations, etc.), you're responsible for making sure those contacts provided consent to be contacted through the original source before you text or call them via BoomTown.
Importing a list and texting it without verified consent is a TCPA compliance risk.
The Disclaimers Your Leads See
BoomTown displays TCPA-compliant disclaimers in two places on your website. These disclaimers are displayed to every lead at registration and on the Finance page.
Note: As of January 27, 2025, BoomTown updated the disclaimer language to include clearer consent terms for auto-dialed communications, links to Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, explicit opt-out instructions (HELP / STOP), and the reminder that message and data rates may apply. The current versions of both disclaimers are shown below.
Registration Form Disclaimer
When a lead submits the registration form on your BoomTown website, they see:
By providing my phone number and submitting the form, I expressly consent to {Brokerage Name}, directly or by a third party vendor, InsideRE, LLC, acting on {Brokerage Name}'s behalf, contacting me at this number by calling me or sending me text messages, including marketing and promotional messages, using an automatic telephone dialing system, related to our products and services for real estate transactions, even if my name appears on the "Do Not Call" list. Providing my consent is not required to obtain our products or services. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. Text HELP for help or STOP to unsubscribe. My information will be handled in accordance with {Brokerage Name}'s Privacy Policy [link] and {Brokerage Name}'s Terms & Conditions [link].
Finance Page Disclaimer
When a lead submits the Finance page form on your BoomTown website, they see:
By providing my phone number and submitting the form, I expressly consent to Lender, directly or by a third party vendor, InsideRE, LLC, acting on Lender's behalf, contacting me at this number by calling me or sending me text messages, including marketing and promotional messages, using an automatic telephone dialing system, related to our products and services for real estate transactions, even if my name appears on the "Do Not Call" list. Providing my consent is not required to obtain our products or services. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. Text HELP for help or STOP to unsubscribe. My information will be handled in accordance with this website's Privacy Policy [link] and {Lender Name}'s Terms & Conditions [link].
Custom Expanded Disclaimer Option
BoomTown also supports a custom expanded disclaimer area on the registration form so you can clearly display your team's unique communication practices. For example, if your team uses an automated dialer or shares lead information with a mortgage partner that uses automation, you may want to add disclosure language specific to those practices.
If you want a custom disclaimer added to your site, email the proposed language to support@boomtownroi.com. We strongly recommend having your legal counsel review any custom disclaimer language before submitting.
Honoring Opt-Out Requests
Consent can be revoked. When a lead requests to stop being contacted — whether by phone, text, or email — you must discontinue contacting them through that channel and update their status in BoomTown.
Three channels, three statuses
A lead can opt out of any single channel without affecting the others. For example, clicking "unsubscribe" on a marketing email does not opt them out of phone calls or texts. You need to track and honor each channel separately.
When a lead asks to stop being contacted, update the corresponding status in their lead profile:
Phone calls: Set phone status to Do Not Call
Text messages: Set text status to Cannot Be Texted
Emails: Set email address status to Opted Out
Updating these statuses stops future outreach from your team, automated campaigns, and bulk messaging for that channel.
Opt-out requests come in many forms
Consumers may phrase opt-out requests in many different ways — "stop," "unsubscribe," "please take me off your list," "no longer interested," "do not contact me again." If you believe a consumer has asked not to be contacted, update their opt-out status immediately, even if they didn't use a specific keyword.
Additional communication after an opt-out request is the most common source of TCPA violations.
Automated opt-out keywords on text
For texts specifically, BoomTown automatically honors standard opt-out keywords. If a lead replies with any of the following, they will be automatically opted out of text communication:
STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT
BoomTown also honors the HELP keyword with an automated response ("Reply STOP to unsubscribe"). Only a reply of just the word help triggers this response — phrases like "Thank you for your help" or "I need help" are treated as normal messages and don't trigger the auto-reply.
For the full details on how texting opt-outs are processed and when opt-out language is auto-appended to outbound texts, see the Opt-Out Functionality Overview article.
Call-Specific TCPA Rules
In addition to texting compliance, the TCPA sets specific rules for phone calls — especially automated or pre-recorded calls. Even calls placed manually should follow these best practices.
Call timing
Do not contact consumers outside the hours of 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM local to the consumer's time zone. This applies to both calls and texts.
Abandoned calls
Disconnect an unanswered telemarketing call before 15 seconds or four rings have elapsed. Calls that keep ringing without connecting to a live agent are considered telemarketing abandonment under the TCPA.
Autodialer and pre-recorded message identification
If you're using an autodialer or leaving a pre-recorded or artificial voice message, you must:
State the identity of the caller at the beginning of the message (your name and company)
Provide the address and phone number of the caller during the call
These identification requirements don't apply to manual calls you place yourself, but they're required for any automated or pre-recorded outbound voice communication.
Canadian Customers: Completing Texting Registration Without an EIN
If you're based in Canada and don't have a U.S. EIN, you can still complete BoomTown's texting registration to send texts through the CRM.
When completing the Texting Registration form (accessed from the red banner on Lead Central — see the Texting Troubleshooting article), enter your Canadian Corporation Number — federal or provincial — in the EIN field.
Important: Do NOT enter your business number or federal tax ID number. Only the Canadian Corporation Number will be recognized as a valid substitute for the EIN field for Canadian businesses.
This applies to Canadian businesses texting U.S. phone numbers through BoomTown.
How BoomTown Helps You Stay Compliant
BoomTown provides several built-in tools to support TCPA compliance:
Consent captured automatically at registration via the Terms of Use agreement on your website.
Three-channel opt-out statuses on every lead profile so you can track phone, text, and email preferences separately.
Automated text opt-out processing for standard keywords (STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, etc.), so leads can self-serve.
Auto-appended opt-out language on texts at the required intervals — initial outreach and every 30 days for unresponsive leads. See the Opt-Out Functionality Overview article for details.
Initial texts from the Concierge service include sender identity and opt-out instructions per compliance requirements.
Ongoing compliance monitoring — BoomTown tracks industry and carrier changes and updates our systems to maintain compliance and deliverability on your behalf.
For texting-specific rules and troubleshooting, see:
Two-Way Communication & Texting Compliance — identification and opt-out rules
Opt-Out Functionality Overview — how BoomTown auto-appends opt-out language
Texting Troubleshooting — carrier filtering and 10DLC troubleshooting
Key Terms
TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) — U.S. federal law governing how businesses can contact consumers by phone and text. Violations assess statutory damages per call or per text.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) — U.S. regulatory agency that implements and enforces the TCPA.
TRACED Act — U.S. legislation expanding civil penalty authority for intentional robocall violations. Separate from the TCPA's private right of action.
Express Consent — A consumer's explicit agreement to be contacted. For BoomTown leads, this is captured when they submit the registration form with the TCPA disclaimer displayed.
Do Not Call — The opt-out status for phone calls on a lead profile. Set this when a lead asks to stop receiving calls.
Cannot Be Texted — The opt-out status for text messages on a lead profile. Set this when a lead asks to stop receiving texts.
Opted Out (email) — The opt-out status for email communication. A lead can opt themselves out by clicking the unsubscribe link in an email, or you can set it manually.
Standard Opt-Out Keywords — Words that automatically trigger a text opt-out in BoomTown: STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT.
Autodialer — An automated dialing system that places outbound calls without a live person initiating each call. Subject to specific TCPA identification requirements.
Canadian Corporation Number — The identifier used by Canadian businesses (federal or provincial) in place of a U.S. EIN when completing BoomTown's Texting Registration.