BUY AWAY?: Another Court Holds Offers to Buy Real Estate Are Not “Telephone Solicitations” Under the TCPA’s DNC Provisions

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Another day, another data point.

In Aussieker v. Aghazadeh, 2025 WL 2021040 (E.D. Cal. July 18, 2025) the Court followed the recent decision in Coffey and concluded offers to buy property simply do not trigger the TCPA’s DNC protections. Thus a company may offer to buy a person’s home even if that person has placed their number on the national DNC list.

BUYING ACTIVITY VS. SELLING ACTIVITY: Court Holds Offers to Buy Houses Are NOT Telephone Solicitations– And Of Course They Aren’t (But this is a BIG WIN Regardless)

The Court’s rationale is straightforward and consistent with the regulatory language:

 An offer to buy simply does not fall within the statutory definition of “solicitation” because it is not a communication “for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person ….” See 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(15). Unsolicited offers to buy may indeed be as unwelcome and intrusive as are unsolicited offers of property, goods or services for sale—but Congress addressed only the latter problem in the TCPA. The court lacks the authority to construe the statute more broadly that its language permits in order to address the harm plaintiff seeks to redress.

Again, pretty straightforward.

The Court in Assuiker was moved by the reasoning of the court in Coffey and expressly followed it:

“Indeed, plaintiff’s argument here is exactly the same as the argument made by Coffey: that defendant’s offer to buy plaintiff’s house was really a solicitation for a service from which defendant would ultimately make money. ECF No. 27 at 8. This argument was expressly, and the undersigned believes correctly, rejected by Judge Logan. The undersigned agrees with defendant that the TCPA claim must be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”

Easy breezy.

So that’s that–another court finds calls made to generate leads for home buyers are not subject to the TCPA.

A couple of words of caution:

  1. This is not the final word on the subject. Two rulings at the district court level may hold sway in some legal landscapes but not in TCPAWorld, there may be two contrary rulings tomorrow. Until an appellate court weighs in here proceed with caution; and
  2. Some states have laws that EXPRESSLY cover offers to buy and otherwise prohibit BROADER calls without consent– so be careful.

As always this is not legal advice–always consult a QUALIFIED lawyer (maybe Troutman Amin, LLP?) before beginning any consumer outreach program. The laws here are strict, complex, and unforgiving!

And for those who want a leg up on this fast-moving area of the law be sure to request your FREE copy of the Troutman Amin, LLP TCPA Annual Review (2025 Ed.), presented by Contact Center Compliance. Hundreds of TCPA cases broken down and analyzed– yours totally free! Just ask for it.

Chat soon.

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

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