New Hampshire bars telemarketing sales calls to numbers on the national do not call registry, applies the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule to calls made within the state, requires registration before using automatic prerecorded dialing systems, and requires all parties' consent to record calls.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Any person intending to use an automatic telephone dialing system for solicitation in New Hampshire must register with the consumer protection and antitrust bureau of the Department of Justice at least 10 business days before using it, and pay an annual administrative fee. The law defines that system as equipment that stores or produces numbers to be called randomly or sequentially and delivers a prerecorded message without a live operator. The registration gives the registrant's name, address, business name, and the street address of every location from which it will conduct business. Transmissions must be randomly generated at unequal intervals and may not reach emergency lines such as police, fire, or ambulance lines.
Telemarketers may not make telemarketing sales calls to a customer who registered a name or number with the do not call registry kept by the Federal Trade Commission, which the law names as the list administrator. For telemarketers regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, the law applies consistently with that agency's national do not call rules. Calls at the customer's express request, within an established business relationship as the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule defines it, or for a nonprofit charity are not telemarketing sales calls. A telemarketer is not liable if it shows by clear and convincing evidence that it had written procedures, trained staff, a process and records for avoiding listed numbers using a list no more than 3 months old, and monitoring, and that the call was a good faith error.
The telemarketing law sets no calling window of its own. It says anyone required to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule must also follow that rule for telemarketing sales calls made within New Hampshire, and it covers callers who would be subject to the rule if their calls crossed state lines. The federal rule treats outbound telemarketing calls to a person's residence outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, without prior consent, as an abusive practice. The Federal Communications Commission rule sets the same window for telephone solicitations to residential subscribers.
A solicitation message made through an automatic telephone dialing system must disclose, immediately after contact, the name of the person, company, or organization calling, and the purpose of the call and the goods or services offered. The system must release the line within 30 seconds after the called party hangs up. A violation of these provisions is an unfair or deceptive act under the state consumer protection act, and that act's remedies can enforce them.
No person using an automated telephone dialing system or any other method for solicitation may use per call blocking, per line blocking, or any other method to keep caller identification information from reaching the called party. The caller identification information must contain a telephone number at which the solicitor can receive calls, and it may not contain misleading, inaccurate, or deceptive information.
The telemarketing sales call rules protect customers, which the law defines as natural persons who are residents of the state and who pay or may pay for goods or services offered through telemarketing. It defines the do not call list as a list of residential telephone subscribers. The automatic dialing rules define solicitation as an unrequested call to a residential telephone subscriber to sell or lease goods or services, seek a contribution, or obtain information.
New Hampshire's wiretapping law makes it a felony to intercept a telecommunication or oral communication without the consent of all parties to it, unless the chapter specifically provides otherwise. A person who is a party to the call, or who has the prior consent of one party, and intercepts it without the consent of all parties commits a misdemeanor, subject to the chapter's listed exceptions.
The telemarketing law uses the federal list. It names the Federal Trade Commission as the list administrator and bars telemarketing sales calls to customers registered with that registry. Telemarketers calling New Hampshire customers must obtain quarterly listings of the state's registrants.
The registration section reviewed here applies to a person intending to use an automatic telephone dialing system for solicitation, defined as equipment that dials numbers randomly or sequentially and delivers a prerecorded message without a live operator. No separate registration for live callers appears in the telemarketing chapter.
Yes. A person injured by a violation of the telemarketing sales call rules may sue for damages and equitable relief, including an injunction, and the court increases damages for willful or knowing violations and awards a prevailing plaintiff costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The Department of Justice also investigates complaints and imposes 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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