South Carolina limits telephone solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the consumer's location absent prior written consent, bars calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, requires opening disclosures, and lets aggrieved persons sue.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
A telephone solicitor may not start, or cause someone to start, a telephone solicitation at any time other than between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, unless it has the consumer's prior written consent. The Act defines a telephone solicitation as a call, text, or media message to a natural person's residence in South Carolina, or to a wireless phone with a South Carolina area code, made to offer or advertise property, goods, or services, or to gather information for that purpose.
The Act's definition of telephone solicitation leaves out a call made with the consumer's prior express invitation or permission, shown by a signed or electronically signed written agreement that says the person agrees to be contacted by or for a specific party and includes the number to be called. It also leaves out calls within an established business relationship or a personal relationship. These exclusions do not apply to the Act's do not call rules, or once the consumer has said they do not want contact from that business.
The Act ties its registry rule to the federal list: a telephone solicitor may not call a number on the National Do Not Call Registry kept under 16 CFR Part 310 and 47 CFR 64.1200. No solicitation may go to a number whose user already told the solicitor, or the business it calls for, not to call again, and that request must be honored for at least five years. A defendant has an affirmative defense if it set up and used, with due care, reasonable procedures to prevent violations, including a version of the registry obtained no more than 31 days before the call.
At the start of a solicitation, the caller must give a first and last name and the name of the business the call is for, then promptly give a phone number and address where the solicitor can be reached, the purpose of the call, and the option to be added to the solicitor's in house do not call list. During the offer, the caller must give a good faith estimate of the total cost and quantity. If no live solicitor is available within two seconds after the greeting ends, the call must play a recorded identification and opt out message and offer an automated way to make a do not call request.
The South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act contains no registration, license, or bond requirement for telephone solicitors. The Department of Consumer Affairs publishes the list of industries that must be licensed or registered with it, and telemarketing is not on that list. The Department does list the Act among the laws it enforces, and the Act lets the administrator appointed by the Commission on Consumer Affairs issue cease and desist orders with penalties for violations. The Attorney General may also investigate and enforce the Act.
The Act protects consumers, which it defines as natural persons who are the object of a telephone solicitation. Its definition of telephone solicitation covers calls and messages to a natural person's residence in South Carolina or to a wireless phone with a South Carolina area code. The Act does not separately address business telephone lines, and its definition of established business relationship is written around the consumer's purchases and inquiries.
South Carolina's interception law makes it lawful for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication when the person is a party to the communication or one of the parties has given prior consent to the interception.
Yes. The Act's definition of telephone solicitation includes a text or media message sent to a natural person's residence in the state or to a wireless phone with a South Carolina area code, for the purpose of offering or advertising property, goods, or services.
A person aggrieved by a violation may sue to stop it and recover actual losses plus damages for each violation, which a court may increase for a willful violation, along with attorneys' fees and costs. The consumer affairs administrator and the Attorney General can also enforce the Act. In a private suit, it is a defense that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error.
It is a relationship based on the consumer's purchase from, or transaction with, the business within the 18 months before the solicitation, or the consumer's inquiry or application about its property, goods, or services within the three months before. That relationship takes a call outside the definition of telephone solicitation, except for the do not call rules.
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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