TCPA compliance for debt leads

Checked on October 10, 2026. The sources are the FCC rule at 47 CFR 64.1200 and the Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 CFR Part 310, read on eCFR where both titles showed as current to October 7, 2026, plus the FCC’s robocall and text guide and two FTC business guides, one on the TSR in general and one on debt relief services. Written for debt lead generators and buyers as general information, not legal advice; the rules move, so read the linked pages before you act on anything here.

Why TCPA compliance for debt leads matters

A debt lead is a person who asked to hear about options for debts they are struggling to pay. The companies that buy debt settlement leads, and the credit counseling and negotiation firms beside them, follow up by phone and text, often with dialing software or automated messages. The FCC’s rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, at 47 CFR 64.1200, decide when those calls and texts need the person’s consent, and the statute lets consumers sue over violations. That is why a debt buyer reads the consent record before it accepts a lead.

Debt adds a layer most verticals do not have. Debt relief telemarketing is covered by the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which has provisions written for debt relief services. A debt lead may also pass from a publisherPublisherA company or individual that generates leads, usually through websites, ads or content, and sells them to brokers or buyers. Glossary to a seller, a broker and then a buyer, and each relies on the consent captured on the first form. For the general rules, see TCPA consent; for consent when leads are sold by ping/postPing/postA real-time selling method in which a lead is pinged to buyers with partial data, buyers bid, and the winning bidder receives the full lead by post. Glossary, see TCPA and ping/post.

Each debt lead carries the TCPATCPAThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal law that governs telemarketing calls and texts, autodialers, prerecorded voice messages and the Do Not Call Registry. Glossary consent record captured on the form.

Consent on debt relief forms

A marketing call or text sent to a cell phone with autodialing equipment, or with an artificial or recorded voice, is lawful under 47 CFR 64.1200 only with the recipient’s prior express written consent. In the rule, that means a signed agreement (an e-signature is enough) in which the person clearly allows a named seller to reach a phone number they supplied in those ways, together with a notice that saying yes is not required to buy anything.

The FCC’s consumer guide notes that this kind of consent can be collected on a web form. When a debt buyer reviews a form, the usual questions are:

• Is the consent wording right at the button, in normal type, rather than buried in a terms page?
• Does it mention debt relief, and calls and texts that may use automated or recorded technology?
• Does it name who may contact the person, or link to that list?
• Does it tell the person that agreeing is optional and not tied to a purchase?
• Did the person check or click something themselves, with nothing ticked in advance?
• Was a certificate saved with the exact wording, time, IP address and URL?

What a seller should hand over with each lead is covered in high quality debt leads, and the fields a lead carries are on the sample debt lead. The definition itself is explained in prior express written consent.

Opt-outs and revoking consent

Debt follow-up can run over weeks while a person weighs options, and people under financial stress often ask companies to stop calling. Under 47 CFR 64.1200:

• Consent of any kind, written consent included, can be withdrawn in any reasonable way that makes the wish for no more calls or texts clear.
• Texting back a word such as “stop”, “cancel” or “unsubscribe”, or using an opt-out web page or number the caller set up, always counts.
• The caller has at most ten business days from receipt to stop.
• The caller cannot force people to use a single opt-out channel.

If several companies received the same lead, an opt-out sent to one of them binds that company; share it with the others where contracts call for it, and log when each stopped.

Do Not Call and calling hours for debt calls

Telephone solicitations are subject to the national Do Not Call registryDNC / Do Not Call RegistryThe National Do Not Call Registry is a federal list of numbers whose owners have opted out of most telemarketing calls. Glossary and to company-specific do-not-call lists. Under 47 CFR 64.1200:

• Solicitation calls to a residence are allowed only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person’s own time zone.
• A caller relying on the safe harbor for numbers on the registry must scrub against a copy of the national list no older than 31 days and keep proof of that routine.

The Telemarketing Sales Rule sets the same 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window at 16 CFR 310.4. The FTC’s debt relief guide adds that companies selling debt relief services, and people working for them, are subject to all of the rule’s existing restrictions, Do Not Call included. Debt leads cross time zones, so the person’s location sets the clock. Stricter state windows are listed on telemarketing calling hours by state.

Automated follow-up deserves its own check. The FCC’s consumer guide says AI-generated voice calls are illegal unless the consumer agreed to receive them or the caller is exempt. Treat an AI voice call as an artificial or prerecorded voice call when you review the consent behind it. Do Not Call scrubbing and consent are separate questions: see Do Not Call list for businesses.

The Telemarketing Sales Rule and debt relief

The FTC added debt relief provisions to the Telemarketing Sales Rule in 2010. Its business guide sums them up in three principles: upfront fees are illegal, key information must be disclosed before sign-up, and services may not be misrepresented. The rule text is in 16 CFR Part 310:

• What counts. 16 CFR 310.2 defines a debt relief service as any program or service represented to renegotiate, settle or in any way alter the terms of a debt with unsecured creditors or debt collectors, including a reduction in the balance, interest rate or fees owed.
• The advance-fee ban. Under 16 CFR 310.4, a seller or telemarketer may not request or receive a fee for a debt relief service until at least one debt has been settled or changed, the customer has agreed to that result, and the customer has made at least one payment under it. Dedicated accounts for fees and creditor payments are allowed only under conditions that protect the customer.
• Disclosures. 16 CFR 310.3 requires disclosures before enrollment, including the time to results, how much must be saved before settlement offers, and the consequences if the program relies on missed payments.
• Misrepresentations. The same section bars misrepresenting any material aspect of the service, such as savings, timing, effects on creditworthiness or on collection efforts, results achieved, or nonprofit status.

Two points matter most for lead generation. First, the FTC’s guide Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule lists debt relief among the offers where calls from consumers responding to general media and direct mail ads stay covered, so inbound calls from ads are in scope. Second, the debt relief guide says providing substantial assistance to a company you know is breaking the rule is illegal, and it names obtaining and selling leads as an example of what that may include. The claims publishers should keep out of ads are listed in debt relief ad claims to avoid.

State licensing and state telemarketing laws

Some states license or restrict debt settlement or debt management services. The Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner has a page for debt management and settlement providers that covers consumer credit counseling services and debt negotiators, and Maryland’s Office of Financial Regulation describes the license required to provide debt management services to Maryland consumers. Buyers check their own status state by state, and the state a lead comes from tells them whether they can work it.

Several states also have telemarketing laws that add to the federal rules, for example on calling hours, call frequency or consent for automated calls and texts. They apply based on where the person is. See state TCPA laws, state Do Not Call lists and the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act.

Record keeping for debt leads

Section 16 CFR 310.5 of the Telemarketing Sales Rule sets a 5-year retention period for telemarketing records, counted from when each record is created unless the section provides otherwise, and it covers copies of each substantially different ad and script. The FTC’s debt relief guide adds that settlement and debt management agreements from creditors must be in writing and kept for at least two years. Debt lead generators and buyers commonly keep, for each lead:

• A consent certificate with the wording, time, IP address and URL
• Which form version and which ad brought the person in
• A dated list of every company the lead went to
• Scrub logs, including the date of the registry copy
• Each opt-out and the day it took effect

See TCPA record keeping for how to organize these files, and how to sell debt leads for what buyers ask sellers to hand over.

How debt consent compares with other lead types

Consent given for one lead type does not carry over to another. Compare TCPA compliance for insurance leads and TCPA compliance for home service leads.

Common compliance mistakes with debt leads

• Consent that does not mention debt relief, texts or automated calls, when the buyer will text or use dialing software.
• Consent that names the wrong companies. A debt lead can be resold, and the firm that actually calls must be covered.
• An opt-out honored by one buyer while a second buyer keeps dialing.
• Treating inbound calls from ads as exempt. The FTC’s TSR guide keeps debt relief calls responding to ads in scope.
• Ad copy that promises what the call cannot. Material claims about savings, timing or collectors are barred, and they cause returns too.
• Missing paperwork. Without the certificate and the form as it looked that day, there is nothing to show a court or a buyer.

If you generate debt leads on your own forms, sell debt leads explains how they are sold. Publishers running paid traffic should start with the debt relief affiliate program.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Debt settlement leads: What debt buyers check and how leads are delivered.
• Sell debt leads: For lead generators with their own debt forms.
• Debt relief affiliate program: For publishers running paid traffic.
• Telemarketing Sales Rule: The TSR across every lead type.
• TCPA compliance hub: Every TCPA guide on this site.

Generating debt leads instead? Sell debt leads