Montana requires sellers and telemarketers to register with the Department of Justice unless exempt, uses the national do not call list as its state database, limits telemarketing to a residence to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, and restricts automated recorded sales messages.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Unless exempt, a person may not act as a seller or telemarketer in Montana without first registering with the Department of Justice, which must approve the first application before the business offers consumer goods or services. The application lists each business name and location, principals and managers, each telemarketer to be employed, banking institutions, and all scripts and sales materials, and must come with a surety bond or an allowed deposit. Registration is renewed annually. Exemptions include business to business sales, licensed insurance producers and their staff, licensed real estate salespeople and brokers, supervised financial organizations, and calls to consumers with an existing business relationship.
Montana bars telephone solicitations to any residential subscriber in the state who has notified the Department of Justice of an objection. By rule, the Department uses the national do not call list as the state database, residents give notice by signing up on the national list, and callers get access to the 406 area code portion through the Federal Trade Commission. The law's definition of telephone solicitation leaves out calls made with the subscriber's prior express invitation or permission, calls by someone with business contact in the past 180 days or a current relationship, and appointment setting calls by Montana licensees for their licensed work.
It is an abusive telemarketing practice in Montana to engage in telemarketing to a person's residence at any time other than between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the called person's location. The same section bars calling a person who has said, in compliance with federal rules, that they do not want that seller's or telemarketer's calls, and bars intentionally blocking a person using caller identification from getting the seller's number. A reasonable substitute name and working number that accurately identify the caller are allowed.
Montana's criminal code bars using an automated telephone system, device, or facsimile machine to select and dial numbers and play recorded messages to offer goods or services for sale, solicit sales or information, gather data or statistics, or promote a political campaign. The ban does not apply when a live operator obtains the called party's permission before the recorded message plays, and it allows status messages about purchased goods or services, responses to a person's inquiry, and other pertinent information where there is a preexisting business relationship.
Montana's registration and bonding requirements do not apply to a business to business sale. The no call law protects residential subscribers, meaning persons who subscribe to residential telephone service from a local exchange company and those living with them, and the calling hours rule covers telemarketing to a person's residence. The registration act defines a consumer as a person who is or may be required to pay for goods or services offered by a seller or telemarketer through telemarketing.
On contact, a seller or telemarketer must promptly disclose its identity, that the call is to sell goods or services, and their nature. A buyer may cancel a telephone sale before signing an agreement, and unless the seller has a qualifying return and refund policy, the sale is not final until the buyer receives written notice of a right to cancel before midnight of the third business day. A caller making a telephone solicitation to a Montana residential line must state its identity at the start and may not knowingly block caller identification.
Montana makes it an offense to knowingly or purposely record, or cause to be recorded, a conversation by use of a hidden electronic or mechanical device that reproduces a human conversation without the knowledge of all parties to the conversation. That rule does not apply to persons given warning of the recording, and if one person provides the warning, either party may record.
Montana defines a telemarketer as a person located within or outside the state who initiates or receives telephone calls to or from a consumer in Montana. Unless exempt, a seller or telemarketer must register with the Department of Justice first.
Montana uses 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time for telemarketing to a residence. The federal rule at 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) uses the same hours for telephone solicitations to residential subscribers, at the called party's location.
By rule, the Department of Justice uses the national do not call list as the state do not call database. The Public Service Commission tells consumers that registering on the national registry places them on the state registry.
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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