47 USC § 227 — Restrictions on use of telephone equipment

tcpa-47usc-227

TCPA's operative restrictions on automated and prerecorded calls. Mortgage relevance is acute for default-collections and marketing calls. Key duties: no autodialed or artificial/prerecorded calls to cell phones without prior express consent (§227(b)(1)(A)(iii)); no prerecorded calls to residential lines without prior express consent (§227(b)(1)(B)); no unsolicited fax advertisements (§227(b)(1)(C)); and Do Not Call registry compliance for telephone solicitations (§227(c)). Penalties are statutory ($500-$1,500 per call) with class- action exposure.

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source:
  type: regulation
  id: tcpa-47usc-227
  authority: 47 USC § 227 — Restrictions on use of telephone equipment
  description: |
    TCPA's operative restrictions on automated and prerecorded calls.
    Mortgage relevance is acute for default-collections and marketing
    calls. Key duties: no autodialed or artificial/prerecorded calls to
    cell phones without prior express consent (§227(b)(1)(A)(iii)); no
    prerecorded calls to residential lines without prior express consent
    (§227(b)(1)(B)); no unsolicited fax advertisements (§227(b)(1)(C));
    and Do Not Call registry compliance for telephone solicitations
    (§227(c)). Penalties are statutory ($500-$1,500 per call) with class-
    action exposure.
obligations:
  - id: tcpa-47usc-227-b1a-iii-no-autodialed-calls-to-cell-without-consent
    canonical_id: tcpa-47usc-227-b1a-iii-no-autodialed-calls-to-cell-without-consent
    section: 47 USC § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii) — Autodialed/prerecorded calls to cell phones require prior express consent
    description: |
      [LENDER] shall not make any call (other than an emergency-purpose
      call or a call with the prior express consent of the called party)
      using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or
      prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a paging
      service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio
      service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for
      which the called party is charged for the call (UNLESS the call is
      solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United
      States — narrow exception for federal-backed debt, e.g., FHA/VA/
      USDA-guaranteed mortgages may qualify).
    type: refrain
    audit_question: For every autodialed/prerecorded call to a cell phone in [LENDER]'s collections or marketing operations, can [LENDER] evidence (a) prior express consent from the called party (with consent scope matching call purpose) OR (b) qualification for the emergency-purpose or US-government-guaranteed-debt exception, with consent records retained?
    program_review: Do the P&Ps ensure [LENDER] makes no autodialed/prerecorded call to a cell phone (or charged-for-call service) without prior express consent matching the call's purpose — accounting for the emergency-purpose and U.S.-government-guaranteed-debt exceptions — with consent records retained?
    file_review: For sampled autodialed/prerecorded cell calls (collections/marketing), confirm prior express consent (scope matching purpose) or a qualifying exception. The compliance person judges whether the consent on file covers the call made.
    judgment: true
    feeds: []
    workflow_phase: default_collections
    owner_role: tcpa_compliance_specialist
    secondary_owner_role: compliance_officer
    cadence: per-call-event
    consequence: TCPA private right of action with statutory damages $500-$1,500 per call; class-action exposure has produced 8- and 9-figure settlements against servicers.
    tags:
      - round-c
      - regulator-direct
      - tcpa
      - servicing
      - autodialer
      - cell-phone-consent
      - promoted
    primary_source:
      tier: 1
      authority: 47 USC § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)
      source_class: tcpa-statute
      source_url: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227
      snapshot_id: b91b8972e80d89df
      fetched_at: '2026-05-24T19:33:25Z'
      content_hash: sha256:b91b8972e80d89dfb91b8972e80d89dfb91b8972e80d89dfb91b8972e80d89df
      paragraph_quote: |
        to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice
      drafter_attestation: |
        Copied verbatim from snapshot b91b8972e80d89df. Substring is the
        (b)(1)(A) operative prohibition chapeau; clause (iii) cell-phone
        specifics and exceptions paraphrased in description.
    sub_criteria:
      - id: csh-sc-tcpa-227-prior-express-consent-record
        statement: '[LENDER] maintains a record of the called party''s prior express consent (timestamp, scope, channel of consent) for every cell-phone autodialed/prerecorded call.'
        derivation_kind: from-regulatory-text
        cite: 47 USC § 227(b)(1)(A)
        evidence_kinds:
          - document
          - system_log
          - timestamp
      - id: csh-sc-tcpa-227-revocation-honored
        statement: '[LENDER] honors consent revocation immediately upon receipt (oral or written), with system suppression of further autodialed/prerecorded calls to the revoking number.'
        derivation_kind: inferred-operational
        cite: 47 USC § 227(b)(1)(A) (consent revocability under FCC/court interpretation)
        evidence_kinds:
          - system_log
          - timestamp
    promoted_at: '2026-05-24T20:12:22+00:00'
    promoted_from: tcpa-47usc-227-roundc-v1.yaml
_promotion_history:
  - promoted_at: '2026-05-24T20:12:22+00:00'
    candidate_path: obligations\_remediation\round-c-type-a\tcpa-47usc-227-roundc-v1.yaml
    candidates_promoted: 1
    candidates_skipped_existing: 0

Verbatim regulatory text (1)

Verbatim provisions from 47 USC § 227 — Restrictions on use of telephone equipment — each quote is a verified substring of the regulator-published source snapshot, not retyped. Quoted for reference; this is not legal advice. The operational layer (P&P updates, prompts) lives in the regulation update kits.