Tennessee do not call list: what callers must know in 2026

Last updated 2026-07-10

What is the Tennessee Do Not Call list and how does it work?

Tennessee runs a state Do Not Call registry that sits separate from the federal list. The authority comes from the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. Section 47-18-1501 through 47-18-1510, which mirrors the federal framework and adds Tennessee-specific teeth. ^[1]

The state list is administered through the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs under the Department of Commerce and Insurance. Residents register their home or mobile numbers. Telemarketers who want to call Tennessee consumers have to check the state list and the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry before dialing.

The two lists run in parallel. A number could sit on one, both, or neither. So a caller can't scrub just the federal registry and assume they're clean in Tennessee. You pull both.

Registration is free and does not expire. That changed in 2008, when Congress made federal registrations permanent, and Tennessee follows the same practical approach at the state level. ^[2] Once a number lands on either list, it stays until the consumer removes it themselves.

How do Tennessee residents register for the Do Not Call list?

Tennessee residents have two routes. For federal-level protection you only need one, but registering on both is the safest move.

For the federal list, go to donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you want registered. The FTC confirms registration within 24 hours, and telemarketers have to honor it within 31 days. ^[2]

For the Tennessee state list, consumers register through the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs or contact the office directly at (615) 741-4737. State registration gives you the private right of action under Tennessee law, which matters if you want to pursue a claim rather than just file a complaint.

Mobile numbers qualify for both lists. There's a stubborn myth that cell phones are automatically protected or live on some separate list. They don't. You register a mobile number the same way you register a landline. The mobile phone do not call list works exactly that way: active registration required, no shortcuts.

What laws govern telemarketing calls to Tennessee numbers?

Tennessee callers face two layers of law. Get comfortable with both, because either one can bite you.

At the federal level, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. Section 227) prohibits calls to residential numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry and sets rules on autodialers, prerecorded messages, and calling hours. ^[3] The FCC implements and enforces TCPA regulations at 47 C.F.R. Part 64. ^[11] The FTC maintains the National DNC Registry under the Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 310). ^[4]

At the state level, Tenn. Code Ann. Section 47-18-1501 et seq. adds its own prohibitions. Tennessee's law covers telephone solicitation to residential customers and reaches calls placed from outside the state if they land on a Tennessee resident's phone. A call center in Ohio dialing a Nashville homeowner is subject to Tennessee law.

Tennessee also has the Tennessee Telephone Solicitations Act, which requires sellers to make specific disclosures on the call: the caller's name, the company's name, the purpose of the call, and the nature of what's being sold. Skip any of those and you've committed a violation, separate from the DNC issue.

For a broader grounding in the federal side, the FTC do not call list article covers how the national registry got built and how the TSR works alongside TCPA.

What are the penalties for violating Tennessee's Do Not Call rules?

One bad campaign can end a small company. That's not scare copy. It's arithmetic.

Under federal TCPA, each call to a number on the National DNC Registry can support a private lawsuit for $500 per violation, trebled to $1,500 if the violation is willful. ^[3] The FTC can also assess civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, a figure the agency adjusts for inflation. ^[10]

Under Tennessee state law, Tenn. Code Ann. Section 47-18-1506 lets the state Attorney General seek civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation. ^[1] Private plaintiffs can also bring actions under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act for actual damages, and courts can award attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs. That fee-shifting is what makes small-dollar suits attractive to plaintiff's counsel.

The real danger for small teams is volume. Run a list of 5,000 numbers where 200 sit on the DNC registry, and you don't have one violation. You have 200. At $10,000 each under state law, that's $2,000,000 in exposure before you touch the federal claims.

The do not call list report process is how consumers and regulators track violations, so every complaint filed can become a data point in a state enforcement action.

Which callers are exempt from Tennessee's Do Not Call rules?

Not every call is covered. Tennessee follows an exemption structure close to the federal rules, and the categories matter.

Exempt callers under Tennessee law include:

• Callers with an established business relationship (EBR) with the consumer. Under federal rules, an EBR lasts 18 months after the last transaction or 3 months after a consumer inquiry. Tennessee tracks that standard closely. ^[4]
• Calls made with the consumer's prior express written consent. This is the safest route for any telemarketer, because documented consent survives a DNC registration.
• Calls made on behalf of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.
• Calls that aren't "telephone solicitations" under state law: surveys, political calls, and debt collection calls generally fall outside the definition.
• Calls to businesses. Both the state and federal DNC rules are primarily residential consumer protections. B2B calling has its own rules, but DNC usually doesn't apply.

People trip on the established business relationship. An EBR doesn't last forever, and it doesn't override everything. A consumer can still tell you on a call not to call again, and you have to honor that verbal request immediately, EBR or no EBR. ^[3]

One more: the EBR exemption does not apply to prerecorded message calls. Under FCC rules, prerecorded telemarketing calls need prior express written consent even when there's an existing business relationship. That's a common stumble for teams running automated dialers.

How do telemarketers access the Tennessee Do Not Call list?

For the federal list, telemarketers and the companies that call for them register with the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov/business. Access costs $75 per area code per year, with the first five area codes free. A company scrubbing every U.S. area code pays $18,900 per year. ^[5]

For the Tennessee state list, commercial access runs through the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs. Telemarketers who want to call Tennessee numbers should contact the division directly to request the current state list. The process has historically involved a subscription or access fee similar to other state lists.

Here's the workflow most teams use. Pull the federal list first, since it's the larger and more standardized dataset. Then layer in the Tennessee state list as a second scrub. Any number on either list is off-limits unless you have a specific exemption (consent, EBR, something you can document).

Scrubbing frequency matters. FTC rules require that sellers access the national registry no more than 31 days before calling. ^[4] Pull the list in March, call in July, and you're out of compliance. Serious operations scrub monthly at a minimum.

For a full walkthrough of list access across both layers, the how do I get the do not call list guide covers the mechanics.

How does the Tennessee list compare to the federal National DNC Registry?

The two registries cover different ground and carry different enforcement, which is exactly why you need both.

Feature	Federal (FTC/FCC)	Tennessee State
Governing law	47 U.S.C. 227 / 16 C.F.R. 310	Tenn. Code Ann. 47-18-1501
Who can register	U.S. residential/mobile numbers	Tennessee residential numbers
Registration cost (consumer)	Free	Free
Business list access cost	$75/area code/year	Contact TN Division of Consumer Affairs
Max per-violation penalty	$1,500 private / $51,744 FTC	$10,000 state AG action
Private right of action	Yes (TCPA Section 227(c)(5))	Yes (TN Consumer Protection Act)
Registration expiration	Permanent	Permanent
EBR exemption period	18 months (transaction) / 3 months (inquiry)	Follows federal standard

The federal list is bigger and more widely used. But Tennessee's per-violation penalty runs higher than the base federal TCPA private right of action. That makes state enforcement actions painfully expensive for high-volume violators.

For how other states stack their own layers, see the Florida do not call list and Indiana do not call list guides. States vary a lot on exemptions and penalties.

What calling hours and disclosure rules apply to Tennessee telemarketers?

Federal TCPA rules restrict calls to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the called party's location. ^[3] Tennessee doesn't impose tighter hours, so if you're clean on TCPA timing, you're clean on the state side too.

Disclosures are a different story. Tennessee's Telephone Solicitations Act requires telemarketers to state at the beginning of the call: (1) the caller's first and last name, (2) the name of the company on whose behalf the call is made, (3) the purpose of the call, and (4) what's being sold. This happens before any sales pitch, not tacked on after you've made your ask.

Miss those disclosures and you've committed an independent violation, separate from any DNC issue. You can call a number that's on no registry, have consent, hold a valid EBR, and still break Tennessee law just by skipping the disclosure script.

For prerecorded calls, FCC rules require an automated opt-out mechanism, the name of the caller, and a callback number. ^[6] Tennessee adds nothing here, but you still have to hit every one of them.

How do you file a complaint about an unwanted call in Tennessee?

Tennessee consumers have three real options, and where you file shapes what happens next.

First, file with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or donotcall.gov. The FTC uses these complaints to build enforcement cases, though it doesn't act on individual reports directly. Your report feeds the aggregate data. ^[7]

Second, file with the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs at (615) 741-4737 or through the Department of Commerce and Insurance website. State complaints can trigger investigations by the Tennessee Attorney General, which is the body that pursues the $10,000-per-violation civil penalties. ^[9]

Third, talk to a consumer protection attorney about a private action. The TCPA's private right of action at 47 U.S.C. Section 227(c)(5) lets you sue without going through any government agency. You don't need a lawyer to file a complaint, but private litigation is a different animal.

When you file, include the date and time of the call, the number that called, any company name mentioned, whether the call was live or prerecorded, and what was being sold. Specific complaints are the useful ones.

The do not call list report process works best when consumers write down the details right after the call, not days later.

What internal processes should Tennessee-facing outbound teams have in place?

If you're running outbound into Tennessee, here's the minimum viable compliance setup. This isn't a legal opinion. It's what the rules plainly require and what plaintiff's lawyers ask about first when they sue you.

Keep a written Do Not Call policy. FTC rules at 16 C.F.R. Section 310.4(b)(3)(i) require sellers to maintain a written internal DNC policy and train staff on it. ^[4] "We don't call DNC numbers" is not a policy. You need a documented process for how internal DNC requests get captured, how fast they're applied (within 30 days under federal rules), and who owns it.

Scrub before every campaign. Not monthly. Before every campaign. Use the most recent version of both the federal and Tennessee lists, and keep a timestamped record of when you pulled each one and which version you used. That record is your first defense in litigation.

Document consent and EBR claims separately. If you're calling a Tennessee number on prior express written consent or an established business relationship, that documentation lives in your CRM tied to the phone number, not in someone's head.

Honor verbal DNC requests immediately. If a person says "don't call me again" on a live call, that number goes on your internal DNC list before the end of that call cycle, not at the end of the week. The law is clear here, and it's one of the most common complaint triggers.

LeadCompliant's free compliance kit includes a DNC policy template and scrub-log format that matches what regulators actually ask for during investigations. Worth having even if you never touch the paid tools.

For how the DNC registry maintains its data and what subscription tiers look like for bigger operations, that guide covers the logistics.

Does the Tennessee Do Not Call list apply to text messages?

This is where outbound teams get caught off guard. The short version: the DNC registry was built for voice calls, but text messages carry their own federal rules that overlap heavily.

The TCPA at 47 U.S.C. Section 227 covers "telephone calls," and the FCC reads that to include text messages sent to mobile phones using an automatic telephone dialing system. ^[8] So an unsolicited marketing text to a Tennessee mobile number can be a TCPA violation whether or not that number sits on the DNC list.

The FCC's 2012 report and order (FCC 12-21) made clear that prior express written consent is required before sending marketing texts via autodialer. ^[6] Tennessee's Consumer Protection Act stacks on top if the text counts as a telephone solicitation under state definitions.

Run SMS outbound to Tennessee numbers and you need prior express written consent for every contact. "Opt-in by texting a keyword" alone may not clear the bar if your autodialer triggers TCPA's coverage. The consent has to be clear, conspicuous, and not buried inside unrelated terms and conditions.

Texts to DNC-listed numbers aren't automatically legal just because DNC was written for calls. If the text is a solicitation, it still needs compliant consent.

How is the Tennessee DNC landscape different for B2B callers?

Business-to-business calling sits in genuinely different territory under both federal and state frameworks. The federal DNC registry and Tennessee's state DNC rules mainly protect residential consumers, not businesses. Calls to a company's listed business number generally aren't covered by DNC rules.

That said, the B2B line blurs fast. Calling a sole proprietor's number that they also use personally? That might be a residential line. Calling a cell phone that happens to belong to a small business owner? The residential character of that cell phone can still trigger TCPA coverage.

The safest B2B posture for Tennessee calls is to document that the number is a business line, not a personal or residential one. Courts and the FCC look at how the person actually uses the line, not how you tagged it in your database.

B2B callers still have to meet Tennessee's disclosure requirements (caller name, company name, purpose of call) even where DNC rules don't reach. And prerecorded message rules under TCPA apply to cell phones regardless of whether the call is technically business-to-business.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add my number to the Tennessee Do Not Call list?

Register your Tennessee number on the federal list at donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. For the state list, contact the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs at (615) 741-4737. Registration on either list is free and permanent. Telemarketers must stop calling within 31 days of federal registration. You can register both a landline and a mobile number.

Does my Tennessee DNC registration ever expire?

No. Since 2008, federal DNC registrations are permanent and never need renewal. Tennessee follows the same effective standard at the state level. Your number stays on the list until you actively remove it. The old system, where registrations expired after five years, no longer applies to either list.

What is the penalty for calling a Tennessee number on the Do Not Call list?

Under Tennessee law, the AG can seek civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation. Under federal TCPA, private plaintiffs can sue for $500 per call, or $1,500 if the violation was willful. The FTC can assess up to $51,744 per violation under the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Each individual call to a registered number counts as a separate violation.

Do Tennessee DNC rules apply to cell phones?

Yes. Mobile numbers qualify for registration on both the federal and Tennessee state lists. There's no separate cell phone list and no automatic protection. You have to actively register your mobile number. TCPA adds protections for cell phones beyond DNC, including rules on autodialed and prerecorded calls regardless of registry status.

Are political calls exempt from Tennessee's Do Not Call rules?

Generally yes. Political calls usually aren't classified as "telephone solicitations" under federal or Tennessee state law because they don't sell goods or services. But political calls using autodialers or prerecorded messages to cell phones still face TCPA restrictions independent of DNC rules. The DNC exemption doesn't make all political robocalls legal.

How long does an established business relationship exemption last in Tennessee?

Tennessee tracks federal standards. An EBR from a transaction lasts 18 months from the last purchase, payment, or delivery. An EBR from a consumer inquiry lasts 3 months from the inquiry date. Once those windows close, you need a new basis to call a DNC-registered number. A consumer can also revoke EBR protection verbally during any call.

Do I need to scrub both the federal and Tennessee state DNC lists?

Yes, if you're calling Tennessee consumers. A number might appear on one list but not the other. Scrubbing only the federal list leaves you exposed to state-law violations, and the reverse is true too. Pull both lists before each campaign and keep timestamped records of when you accessed each, since FTC rules require the federal list to be no more than 31 days old.

What disclosures are required at the start of a telemarketing call to a Tennessee resident?

Tennessee's Telephone Solicitations Act requires the caller to state their first and last name, the company's name, the purpose of the call, and the nature of goods or services offered. These disclosures come at the beginning of the call, before any pitch. Skipping them is a separate violation from calling a DNC-registered number.

Can a Tennessee resident sue a telemarketer directly without involving the state AG?

Yes. TCPA Section 227(c)(5) gives consumers a private right of action to sue for $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful, with no government involvement needed. The Tennessee Consumer Protection Act also provides a private right of action. Courts can award attorney fees to winning plaintiffs, which makes Tennessee consumer suits attractive to plaintiff-side attorneys even for small violation counts.

Do text messages have to comply with Tennessee's Do Not Call rules?

The DNC registry was built for voice calls, but marketing texts sent via autodialer to Tennessee mobile numbers face separate TCPA rules requiring prior express written consent. Tennessee's Consumer Protection Act may also apply if the text counts as a solicitation. Checking the DNC registry before texting is not enough. You need documented consent for SMS marketing.

How do I report an unwanted call as a Tennessee resident?

File with the FTC at donotcall.gov to feed federal enforcement data. File separately with the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs by calling (615) 741-4737 to trigger potential state AG action. Include the date, time, calling number, any company name given, and whether the call was live or prerecorded. Specific details make complaints far more useful to investigators.

How does the Tennessee Do Not Call list compare to Iowa's?

Both states layer their own DNC rules on top of the federal registry, but the specifics differ. Iowa's state list is administered under Iowa Code Chapter 476C and also requires separate registration from the federal list. Penalty structures and exemption language vary between states. Callers operating across multiple states track each state's list independently. The federal list is the common baseline for both.

Are nonprofit fundraising calls exempt from Tennessee's Do Not Call list?

Calls made directly by or on behalf of recognized tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are generally exempt from both federal and Tennessee DNC rules, because they usually fall outside the definition of telephone solicitation. But if a for-profit telemarketer calls on behalf of a nonprofit, that for-profit entity still has to comply with TCPA rules, especially on autodialers and prerecorded messages to cell phones.

Sources

1. Justia, Tenn. Code Ann. Section 47-18-1501 et seq. (Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, Telephone Solicitations): Tennessee state Do Not Call law authorizes civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and is administered by the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs
2. FTC, National Do Not Call Registry information for consumers: Federal DNC registrations are permanent since 2008 and telemarketers must honor registrations within 31 days
3. U.S. Code, 47 U.S.C. Section 227 (Telephone Consumer Protection Act): TCPA allows private suits for $500 per violation, $1,500 if willful, restricts calls to 8am-9pm local time, and covers prerecorded message rules
4. FTC, Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310: TSR requires sellers to access the national registry no more than 31 days before calling, defines established business relationship windows (18 months/3 months), and requires written internal DNC policies
5. FTC, National Do Not Call Registry information for businesses: Business access to the federal DNC registry costs $75 per area code per year with the first five area codes free
6. FCC, Report and Order FCC 12-21 (2012 TCPA robocall rules): FCC's 2012 order requires prior express written consent for marketing texts and prerecorded telemarketing calls, and requires automated opt-out mechanisms in prerecorded calls
7. FTC, Report Fraud complaint portal: FTC uses DNC complaints to build aggregate enforcement cases; consumers can report unwanted calls at this portal
8. FTC, Federal Trade Commission (civil penalty inflation adjustments): FTC civil penalty maximum is $51,744 per TSR violation (periodically adjusted for inflation)
9. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 47 C.F.R. Part 64 (TCPA implementing regulations): FCC implementing regulations for TCPA cover calling hours, internal DNC requirements, and prerecorded message disclosures