Massachusetts keeps a state do not call registry with annual registration for telephone solicitors, bars unsolicited sales calls to consumers between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. or by recorded message device, and bars secretly recording calls without all parties' prior authority.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation keeps a no sales solicitation calls listing, updates it at least quarterly, and by regulation includes Massachusetts consumers who enroll in a national do not call database. A telephone solicitor may not make an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer on the current quarterly listing, and anyone selling consumer contact lists to telephone solicitors must remove listed consumers. The office says telemarketers and list brokers, even those from out of state, must not call numbers on the registry, and that subscriptions expire December 31 and must be renewed each year.
Telephone solicitors making unsolicited telephonic sales calls to Massachusetts consumers must register annually with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, filing a written application on or before January 1. The application gives the solicitor's name and any aliases, trade or assumed names, address, telephone number, and agent for service of process, with an officer's statement affirming compliance with chapter 159C and the regulations. Solicitors must have an approved registration and the most recent registry before soliciting any Massachusetts consumer.
A telephone solicitor may not make an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer to be received between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., local time at the consumer's location. The statute sets one window and does not distinguish weekdays, weekends, or holidays. A call is not an unsolicited telephonic sales call if it responds to the consumer's express written or verbal request, concerns an existing debt or contract, goes to an existing customer who has not asked to stop, or involves a sale not completed until after a face to face presentation or meeting.
A telephone solicitor may not make an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer by use of a recorded message device. Separately, anyone using an automatic telephone dialing system, defined as equipment that can store or produce numbers with a random or sequential number generator, call them, and deliver a prerecorded message, must keep the system from dialing numbers that customers have listed with their local telephone company as not wishing to receive such calls. The system must release the called party's line within five seconds after the called party hangs up.
Within the first minute of a telephonic sales call, and before requesting payment, a telephone solicitor must disclose that the purpose is to make a sale or solicit funds, the correct names of the telemarketing company and the ultimate seller, and a complete and accurate description of the goods or services. Before taking payment, it must also disclose the cost, any restrictions, and refund, return, and cancellation terms. A telephone solicitor may not intentionally use a blocking device or service to get around a consumer's caller identification service.
Massachusetts makes it a crime to willfully commit an interception, which the statute defines as secretly hearing or secretly recording the contents of a wire or oral communication through an intercepting device by anyone other than a person given prior authority by all parties to the communication. The law's preamble states that the secret use of such devices by private individuals must be prohibited.
Chapter 159C protects consumers, defined as Massachusetts residents who are prospective recipients of consumer goods or services, meaning goods or services bought primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, and other financial products. The registry regulation says business telephone subscribers may not be included in the registry. The separate disclosure statute in chapter 159 applies to telephone solicitation of a sale at the residence of a prospective buyer.
Chapter 159C defines an unsolicited telephonic sales call to exclude a call in which the sale is not completed, and payment or payment authorization is not required, until after a face to face sales presentation or a meeting between the telephone solicitor and the customer. The registry and calling hours rules apply to unsolicited telephonic sales calls as defined.
Chapter 159C defines doing business in the commonwealth to include telephonic sales calls from outside Massachusetts to consumers in Massachusetts. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation says telemarketers and list brokers, even those from out of state, must not call numbers on the Massachusetts Do Not Call Registry.
A person who receives more than one unsolicited telephonic sales call within a 12 month period by or on behalf of the same person or entity in violation of chapter 159C may sue to stop the violation, to recover for a knowing violation, or both. The Attorney General may also bring proceedings over knowing violations, including civil penalties.
Checked September 26, 2026. Every fact on this page comes from these official sources. General information, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the cited statute or agency and with counsel.
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