What are the telemarketing calling hours?

Two federal rules set that window. The FCC rule at 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) bars any telephone solicitation to a residential telephone subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location. The FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 CFR 310.4(c) makes it an abusive practice, without the person's prior consent, for a telemarketer to make outbound calls to a person's residence at any time other than 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time at the called person's location. The FCC applies its paragraph (c) rules to wireless numbers to the extent described in its 2003 order. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Whose clock counts

Both federal rules measure the window in local time at the location of the person being called, not in the caller's time zone. A floor in one time zone that calls into several others is working to each called person's clock. Florida measures its window in the called person's time zone, and Oklahoma in the called person's time zone as well. Oklahoma adds a rebuttable presumption that a commercial telephonic sales call made to any area code in Oklahoma is made to an Oklahoma resident or to a person in Oklahoma at the time of the call.

Where states differ

State windows move the start later or the end earlier. Kentucky allows telephone solicitations to a residence only between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the called person's location. Florida and Oklahoma end the window at 8 p.m. Illinois bars telephone calls soliciting a sale between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., and bars operating an autodialer to place calls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. California bars operating an automatic dialing announcing device to place calls received in California between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Michigan lists an unsolicited commercial telephone call received between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. among acts done with intent to harass, annoy or disturb the peace of another person.

Other limits tied to the same call

Some states pair their hours with other limits. Florida and Oklahoma bar a commercial telephone seller or salesperson from making more than three commercial telephone solicitation calls from any number to a person over a 24 hour period on the same subject matter, regardless of the phone number used. Kentucky bars letting the phone ring more than 30 seconds in an intended telephone solicitation. Illinois requires a live operator soliciting a sale to state his or her name, the name of the business, and the purpose of the call at the start.