TCPA Consent Changes
The FCC has announced major changes to the way lenders can receive and contact their leads. Here are the details.
If you're already up-to-speed on the TCPA changes and want to learn how Gizmo can help you reduce the impact, skip to the appropriate section of the article.
What is TCPA?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law that regulates the use of automated telephone dialing systems (ATDS) and artificial or prerecorded voice communications. It was enacted in 1991 to protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls and text messages.
The TCPA requires that consumers provide their consent before receiving calls or texts from businesses. This consent must be obtained in writing, via a verifiable opt-in method, and must be obtained before the business can initiate contact with the consumer.
The TCPA also imposes strict penalties on businesses that violate its provisions, including fines and potential civil liability.
What has changed?
The two biggest changes are the requirement for One-to-One Consent and the extension of the National Do Not Call Registry.
One-to-one consent
The FCC is strengthening rules to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls and texts by requiring “one-to-one consent.” Marketers must obtain prior express written consent that explicitly authorizes a single, clearly identified seller to send telemarketing messages to a specific phone number. The consent must be in writing, signed, and directly related to the interaction prompting it.
The new rules prohibit vague agreements that share consumer information with “partners” or “marketing partners,” including fine print or hyperlink disclosures. Consent must be specific to one seller at a time, and information sharing within affiliated companies or under a shared brand is also prohibited.
Marketers can still purchase leads, but they must ensure compliance with the updated rules, such as using clear consent mechanisms like a check box for each seller. These changes aim to simplify compliance with the TCPA and ensure consumers have control over who contacts them.
Clear and conspicuous disclosure
The FCC has expanded the disclosure requirement, mandating that it be “clear and conspicuous” to a reasonable consumer. If the E-Sign Act applies to obtain a consumer’s signature, all E-Sign Act requirements must be met. While commenters sought detailed guidance on obtaining valid e-signatures, the FCC deferred to its 2012 order allowing e-signatures as valid consent without further clarification.
Logically and topically related
The FCC allows websites to list multiple telemarketers for obtaining prior express written consent, as long as consent is given separately for each seller. However, the content of calls or texts must be “logically and topically” related to the context where consent was given. The FCC did not define “logically and topically,” advising only that marketers limit content to what consumers would reasonably expect.
National Do Not Call Registry
The FCC has extended National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry protections to marketing text messages, aligning them with voice telemarketing rules. The DNC Registry covers most commercial solicitations, even those not using autodialers or prerecorded messages.
While courts have assumed text messages are already included as “calls” under DNC rules, the new order explicitly codifies this. Marketers can text consumers on the DNC Registry only with prior express permission. However, the order omits reference to the “established business relationship” exception, which allows non-autodialed telemarketing calls to DNC-listed consumers. It is unclear if this exception applies to text messages, leaving the issue for future clarification.
Impact on lenders
Particularly for Consumer-Direct Call Centers, this significantly changes the way you source leads.
Lead providers
Lead providers have typically been able to sell the same lead to multiple lenders. Lenders would then reach out and compete for the business. Going forward, this will no longer be possible. Instead, lead providers will sell a lead to one lender at a time. This will result in a higher cost-per-lead, making it more important than ever to leave nothing on the table when it comes to conversion.
Compliance
To be compliant, lenders will need to maintain records of TCPA consent on the leads they purchase. This will be critical to avoid fines and potential civil liability.
Gizmo's solution
These changes have been in the works for over a year. We have implemented a number of features to help our lenders reduce the impact of these changes.
Storing TCPA consent
Every time you receive a new lead, Gizmo stores the TCPA consent in the lead record. This allows you to easily access the consent when you need it.
Unlimited integrations with any lead provider
It will become even more important to diversify your lead sources. Instead of spending weeks to onboard a new provider, Gizmo AI automates this with our Zero-Config Integrations.
Maximizing conversion
Gizmo receives leads from your lead providers on our Serverless Cloud platform. While your competitors wait for long-running servers to process the information and populate your CRM, your loan officers are already on the phone with borrowers within milliseconds of receiving the lead.