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Texting and emailing customers: the rules to know

What CAN-SPAM, the FCC's texting rules and wireless industry guidelines say about consent, STOP replies, unsubscribes and records, including the FCC change of November 25, 2026.

Updated November 5, 2026 · 6 min read · By CarpetOS

A text the day before a job or a spring email to past customers can fill your schedule. But the rules for email and for texts come from different laws and agencies. So what do you actually have to do before you hit send?

This guide sets out what the official sources say: the Federal Trade Commission's CAN-SPAM guide for email and the Federal Communications Commission's rules for calls and texts, plus the wireless industry's messaging guidelines and texting number registration. It is a plain-language summary, not legal advice, and states can add their own rules.

Service messages and marketing messages

Both email and text rules treat a booking confirmation differently from a promotion. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide (August 2023, edited January 2024) explains that the law covers "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion" of a product or service. Transactional or relationship email, such as a message that "Facilitates, completes, or confirms a commercial transaction that the recipient already has agreed to," "may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions." The FTC adds that "the law views these categories narrowly," and that when an email mixes the two, its primary purpose decides.

The wireless industry's Messaging Principles and Best Practices (CTIA, May 2023) sort texts the same way. Appointment reminders are "informational." A promotional text "contains a sales or marketing promotion," and "Adding a call-to-action (e.g., a coupon code to an informational text) may place the message in the promotional category." So a reminder with a discount for adding a room can become a marketing text.

Marketing email: what CAN-SPAM requires

The FTC guide's main rules, in plain terms:

  • Use accurate "From" and routing information, and subject lines that match the content.
  • "disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement."
  • "Your message must include your valid physical postal address." That can be a street address, "a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service," or a registered private mailbox.
  • Tell people how to opt out of future marketing email, and "Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests."
  • "You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days." The opt-out must keep working "for at least 30 days after you send your message," and you "can’t charge a fee" or require personal information beyond an email address.

The FTC also says "The law makes no exception for business-to-business email," so this covers emails to property managers too. If someone else sends your campaigns, "you can’t contract away your legal responsibility." The guide states penalties of up to $53,088 for each email in violation (its January 2024 figure).

Texts: consent comes first

The FCC's rules live in 47 CFR 64.1200. Marketing calls or texts sent "using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice" need the person's "prior express written consent." The rule defines that as a signed written agreement that names the phone number, clearly discloses that the person is agreeing to receive marketing messages sent that way, and says they are "not required to sign the agreement" as a condition of buying. An electronic signature counts where it is valid under federal law or state contract law.

Whether a particular texting tool counts as an "automatic telephone dialing system" is a legal question. CTIA's guidelines sidestep it: "Regardless of whether these rules apply," businesses are expected to "Obtain a Consumer’s express written consent to specifically receive marketing messages." For informational texts like reminders, CTIA says permission can be given "over text, on a form, on a website, or verbally."

Two more federal rules apply to marketing texts. The FCC has codified "that the National Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry's protections extend to text messages." And the rule bars telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber "before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)," which section 64.1200(e) applies to texts to wireless numbers to the extent described in a 2003 FCC order. Both cover "telephone solicitations," which by definition exclude messages to people who gave "prior express invitation or permission" or have an "established business relationship" with you (a defined term).

Opt-outs: STOP means stop

Under the rule in force through November 24, 2026, people can revoke consent "by using any reasonable method." Replies of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe" always count, and requests must be honored "within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days." You may send one confirmation text with no marketing in it.

From November 25, 2026, the opt-out rules change. An FCC order (FCC 26-67, published October 26, 2026) lets senders choose an exclusive way to opt out, such as replying with one of those seven words, if they "clearly and conspicuously disclose the designated method to revoke consent on the call or in the text." Including one of the words in each text is enough, but all seven must still work. Senders that don't choose an exclusive method "must process revocation requests made by any reasonable means." A STOP to a marketing text revokes consent to all your future marketing texts, while a STOP to an informational text, such as a reminder, may be treated as applying only to that kind of message. The ten-business-day limit stays.

CTIA's guidelines go further: say in your messages how to opt out, use "STOP" wording, and act on plain-language requests like "please opt me out."

Register your texting number

The Campaign Registry describes 10DLC as "an A2P messaging channel in which Brands and Campaign Service Providers (CSPs) are verified prior to being allowed to send messages." A business that texts its customers is a "Brand," and "direct registration with TCR is not available for Brands," so your texting provider registers you.

Keep records

CTIA suggests keeping, for each opt-in, the timestamp, how consent was collected, the wording the customer saw, the campaign, the phone number and who consented. It also says to keep "all opt-in and opt-out requests." For telemarketing calls and texts, the FCC rule requires a do-not-call list, "a written policy, available upon demand," and says a do-not-call request "must be honored for 5 years."

State rules and getting advice

For calls and texts, the TCPA itself (47 U.S.C. 227) says it does not preempt state laws with "more restrictive intrastate requirements," and it lets people sue over its autodialer and prerecorded-voice rules for actual losses or "$500 in damages for each such violation," whichever is greater. For email, CAN-SPAM (15 U.S.C. 7707) supersedes state laws that expressly regulate commercial email, except where they prohibit "falsity or deception," and leaves general state laws such as contract and fraud law in place. To check your state, find your state's consumer protection office, and talk to an attorney before a large campaign. CTIA also tells senders to "consider obtaining legal and regulatory advice."

Quick checklist

  • Sort each message: service (booking, reminder, invoice) or marketing (offers, win-back, seasonal deals).
  • Collect written consent for marketing texts, with a box on your booking or quote form that says buying doesn't depend on it.
  • Put "Reply STOP to opt out" in texts and an unsubscribe link plus your postal address in marketing emails.
  • Honor every opt-out you receive well within 10 business days.
  • Keep a record of each opt-in and opt-out.
  • Send marketing texts between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the customer's local time.
  • Check your state's rules and ask your texting provider about 10DLC registration.

CarpetOS sends email and text campaigns, including win-back for customers who are due for a clean, and the consent and opt-out rules above apply to them like any other message.

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so check the linked sources and talk to a professional about your situation.

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